UCSB  LIBRARY 


SIS 

iVs&i^  /\  *ccoLJ> 


JERRY  McAULEY. 


JERRY    McAULEY 


is  gif*  and 


WITH 


INTRODUCTION 

BY   THE  REV.   S.    IREN^EUS   PRIME,  D.D. 


PERSONAL  SKETCHES 
BY  A.  S.  HATCH,  ESQ. 


EDITED  BY  REV.  R.  M.  OFFORD 


SECOND    EDITION 


NEW  YORK 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  NEW  YORK  OBSERVER 
37  AND  38  PARK  Row 


ComucMT,  1885, 
BY  MARIA  McAULEY. 


PREFACE. 


DURING  the  summer  preceding  his  death  Jerry  McAuley 
was  planning  for  the  preparation  of  a  somewhat  extensive 
account  of  God's  dealings  with  and  through  him.  He  pur- 
posed waiting  only  for  cooler  weather  before  commencing 
his  task.  But  his  death  intervened  ere  the  work  had  even 
been  begun.  We  have  thus  been  deprived  of  many  of  the 
records  of  the  richest  displays  of  God's  grace  in  both  the 
Water  Street  and  the  Cremorne  Missions.  But  enough  have 
been  printed  in  the  following  pages  to  arouse  the  deepest 
interest  of  Christian  hearts.  These  records  serve  to  show  that, 
in  the  dispensation  of  grace  and  graces,  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons.  As  in  nature  the  most  resplendent  gems  are  found 
among  the  most  uninviting  surroundings,  so  grace  gathers 
out  of  the  horrible  pit  and  the  miry  clay  many  a  bright 
gem  for  the  Saviour's  diadem.  And  God  works  through 
lowly  instrumentalities.  In  this  respect  his  choice  is  often 
contrary  to  human  judgment.  Jerry  was  a  very  unpromis- 
ing sinner  to  begin  with,  but  God  in  His  grace  saved  him. 
After  his  conversion  he  seemed  by  no  means  a  promising  saint, 
and  ministers  and  others  engaged  in  mission  work  did  not 
encourage  him  to  believe  that  he  was  called  to  labor  in  that 
direction.  But  God  had  called  him  none  the  less,  and  owned 
and  blessed  him  beyond  all  human  conception  or  computa- 


iv  Preface. 

tion.  It  is  indeed  true  that  we  have  this  treasure  in 
earthen  vessels,  that  the  glory  may  be  the  Lord's. 

It  is  fitting  that  acknowledgments  be  made  here  of  indebt- 
edness to  those  friends  who  have  helped  to  produce  this 
volume.  The  first  three  chapters  are  taken  from  the  little 
work  "Transformed,"  edited  by  Mrs.  Helen  E.  Brown. 
Three  of  the  later  chapters  are  devoted  to  personal  recollec- 
tions of  the  worker  and  his  work,  by  A.  S.  Hatch,  Esq.  There 
are  no  more  interesting  chapters  in  the  book  than  these,  and 
they  greatly  enhance  its  value.  That  gentleman  has  placed 
us  under  further  obligations  by  the  care  and  patience  with 
which  he  has  read  every  line  of  this  volume,  revising  where 
necessary — a  task  which  his  long  and  intimate  acquaintance 
with  Jerry  enabled  him  to  do  better  than  anyone  else  could 
have  done  it.  To  the  Rev.  S.  Irenaeus  Prime,  D.D.,  thanks 
are  due  for  the  "  Introduction."  His  reminiscences  of  Jerry, 
couched  in  such  tender  and  touching- language,  will  serve  to 
awaken  at  the  start  a  deep  interest  in  the  records  which 
follow. 

My  own  part  of  the  work  has  been  a  very  modest  one. 
Collecting  such  material  as  already  existed,  and  which  best 
served  to  present  Jerry  the  outcast,  Jerry  the  transformed, 
Jerry  the  successful  worker  for  souls,  the  matter  has  been 
prepared  for  the  printer  without  any  attempt  to  give  the 
facts  in  any  setting  of-  beautiful  language.  The  labor  has 
been  a  simple  but  very  pleasant  one.  To  have  helped  in  any 
way  to  publish  the  story  of  grace  as  it  triumphed  in  and 
through  Jerry  McAuley  is  an  honor  greatly  esteemed,  and  for 
which  the  heart  feels  sincerely  grateful  to  God.  It  is  in- 
deed to  be  wished  that  He  may  be  glorified  in  the  record  as 
He  was  in  its  subject. 

May  Christians  who  read  these  pages  be  encouraged  to 


Preface.  v 

work  for  the  salvation  of  the  most  outcast  of  their  fellow- 
beings  !  May  many  of  those  who  are  as  yet  unsaved  be 
led  by  these  records  to  seek  Jerry  McAuley's  Saviour,  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Of  that  blessed  Redeemer  it  is  written 
in  God's  Book,  the  Bible,  "  He  is  able  also  to  save  them  to 
the  uttermost  that  come  unto  God  by  him,  seeing  he  ever 
liveth  to  make  intercession  for  them"  (Heb.  vii.  25).  His 
own  words  are  :  "Come  unto  Me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest "  (Matt.  xi.  28). 

THE  EDITOR. 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION. 


WITH  gratitude  to  God  record  is  here  made  that  the  first 
edition  of  this  work  has  been  abundantly  owned  and  blessed 
of  Him.  The  second  and  still  larger  edition  is  sent  out  with 
prayers  as  fervent  and  hopes  as  ardent  as  those  which  ac- 
companied the  first.  May  every  copy  carry  a  blessing! 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PACK 

.1.  TRANSFORMED g 

II.  STRUGGLES  AND  TEMPTATIONS 20 

III.  JERRY  BECOMES  A  MISSIONARY 36 

IV.  TRIALS  AND  TRIUMPHS 48 

V.  WATER  STREET  AS  IT  WAS 58 

VI.  MORE  ABOUT  WATER  STREET 69 

VII.  TROPHIES  OF  GRACE 78 

VIII.  A  MISTAKE  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT 88 

IX.  EVIL  SCHEMES  FRUSTRATED 100 

X.  THE  CREMORNE  MISSION 109 

XI.  ANOTHER  CHAPTER  OF  TESTIMONIES 120 

XII.  CALLED  HOME 133 

XIII.  ON  THE  OLD  SPOT 145 

XIV.  CHARACTERISTIC    SKETCHES   AND  PERSONAL   RECOLLECTIONS 

OF  JERRY  McAui.EY  156 

XV.  RECOLLECTIONS— Continued. 162 

XVI.  RECOLLECTIONS—  Concluded 175 

XVII.  EVERY  EVENING  IN  WATER  STREET 183 

XVIII.  WATER  STREET  MEETING— Contluded. 195 

XIX.  JF.RRY  McAui.F.v's  CRF.MORNE  MISSION 209 

XX.  JKRKY  AS  A  JOIMINALIST  AND  CORKKSPONUENT 222 


INTRODUCTION. 


BY  REV.  S.  IREN^US  PRIME,  D.D. 


RETURNING  home  after  my  summer  recess  in  1884,  I  had 
not  been  in  my  house  five  minutes  when  a  gentleman  called 
to  ask  me  to  conduct  the  funeral  of  Jerry  McAuley. 

"  Is  he  dead  ?"  I  asked  in  a  burst  of  mingled  surprise  and 
sorrow.  Before  going  away  I  had  seen  and  heard  the  mani- 
fest signs  of  consumption,  and  it  was  not  wonderful  that 
such  a  life  as  he  led  in  the  days  of  his  wickedness  should 
make  him  an  easy  prey  to  disease.  He  did  not  live  but  half 
his  days,  though  grace  did  come  to  the  everlasting  life  of 
his  soul. 

\ 

But  it  made  me  very  sad.  I  did  not  know  that  this 
strange  man  had  such  a  place  in  my  heart  that  now  he  was 
dead  I  should  feel  as  if  the  city  and  the  world  and  I  had 
lost  a  friend.  Jerry  is  dead  !  Well,  what  was  he  to  me  that 
I  must  grieve  that  I  shall  see  his  face  no  more?  He  came 
often  to  see  me,  and  said  little  when  he  was  there,  but 
seemed  to  love  to  sit  near  me,  and  look  up  with  a  tearful 
eye  and  a  pensive  face,  and  a  heart,  I  doubt  not,  full  of  sweet 
hope  and  holy  love.  We  never  talked  of  the  old,  old  times 
when  he  was  a  thief  and  a  robber,  when  he  was  a  drunkard 


viii  Introduction. 

and  blasphemer,  when  he  was  a  convict  in  prison,  and 
afterwards  an  outcast  and  an  outlaw.  It  is  not  in  my 
memory  that  a  word  ever  passed  between  us  about  those 
terrible  days  and  nights  of  sin  and  shame,  when  he  won  dis- 
tinction among  the  criminal  classes  as  one  of  the  worst  of 
men,  a  dangerous  character,  unfit  to  be  at  large — as  unfit  to 
live  as  he  was  unprepared  to  die.  It  has  always  been  a  mar- 
vel  to  me  that  men  professing  to  be  reformed  from  loath- 
some habits  should  revel  in  the  recital  of  their  past  sins,  as 
if  they  were  heroes  who  had  come  out  of  a  great  battle,  and 
were  now  victors  to  be  crowned  and  counted  worthy  of 
honor.  Jerry  McAuley  was  not  so.  He  kept  in  mind  the 
pit  from  which  he  was  dug,  but  the  memory  of  it  filled  him 
with  penitence  and  pain.  He  would  speak  of  it  when  the 
fact  of  his  rescue  would  help  a  perishing  brother  to  struggle 
for  deliverance;  but  he  loved  rather  when  with  me  to  speak 
of  the  life  that  he  now  lived — "  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth 
in  me:  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me, 
and  gave  himself  for  me."  Delivered  from  the  powers  of 
darkness  and  translated  into  the  kingdom  of  God's  dear  Son, 
this  poor  sinner,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind,  had  put 
away  the  old  man  with  his  lusts,  and  now  a  new  man  in 
Christ  Jesus  was  striving  to  walk  humbly  and  softly  before 
God.  He  never  seemed  confident  that  he  might  not  be  de- 
livered again  into  the  hand  of  Satan,  to  be  buffeted  for  a 
season;  but  he  sought  sustaining  grace  and  found,  it  day  by 
day,  till  the  convicted  sinner  was  transformed  into  a  re- 
deemed soul  by  the  Spirit  of  God  and  the  victory  of  the 
grave. 

The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath.  The  funeral  was  to  be 
in  the  afternoon.  As  the  hour  approached — and  indeed  all 
the  day — my  thoughts  had  been  dwelling  on  the  fact  that 


Introduction.  ix 

New  York  has  no  consciousness  of  the  loss  it  has  met :  the 
city  knows  not  that  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  it,  one 
of  its  most  remarkable,  wonderful  men,  is  to  be  buried  to- 
day. Very  few  know  or  care  about  Jerry  McAuley  ;  we  are 
going  to  the  Broadway  Tabernacle  to  talk  of  what  he  was 
and  what  he  has  done,  to  a  little  congregation  that  will 
gather  there  :  if  it  were  Dr.  Taylor,  the  beloved  and  honored 
pastor,  the  house  would  be  crowded  and  the  mourners  would 
go  about  the  streets  ;  but  poor  Jerry — he  is  dead,  and  who 
will  be  there  to  weep  with  us  over  his  remains?  Ah,  how 
little  did  I  know  the  place  that  he  filled  in  the  heart  of  this 
vast  city!  I  was  to  conduct  the  funeral,  and  went  early  to 
complete  the  arrangements.  As  I  turned  down  from  the 
Fifth  Avenue  through  Thirty-fourth  Street,  I  saw  a  vast  mul- 
titude standing  in  the  sunshine,  filling  the  streets  and  the 
square  in  front  of  the  Tabernacle.  Astonished  at  the  spec- 
tacle, and  wondering  they  did  not  go  and  take  seats  in  the 
church,  I  soon  found  that  the  house  was  packed  with  peo- 
ple so  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to  get  within  the  door. 
Proclamation  was  made  that  the  clergy  who  were  to  officiate 
were  on  the  outside,  and  a  passage  was  made  for  them  to 
enter  in.  What  could  be  more  impressive  and  expressive 
of  the  estimate  set  upon  the  man  and  his  work!  There  is 
no  other  Christian  worker  in  the  city  who  would  have  called 
out  these  uncounted  thousands  in  a  last  tribute  of  love  and 
honor  of  his  memory.  And  then  eloquent  lips  spoke  of  him 
and  the  great  good  done  by  him  in  fields  of  labor  uninvit- 
ing, and  often  repelling  those  who  care  for  the  souls  of  the 
perishing  among  us.  It  was  said  that  there  is  no  one  pastor 
in  New  York  who  is  doing  the  work  of  this  humble  man 
— no  pastor  who  will  leave  a  wider  vacancy  when  he  falls  on 
the  high  places  in  his  field  of  duty. 


x  Introduction. 

To  read  the  story  of  his  life  and  work  is  not  like  the 
romance  born  of  a  lively  fancy,  for  it  is  far  more  strange, 
unreal,  incredible,  than  the  novel  of  the  period.  It  involves 
the  supernatural.  It  has  to  do  directly  with  the  powers  of 
the  world  to  come.  Reading  it,  still  more  going  into  one  of 
the  meetings  where  lost  men  and  women  come  to  be  saved, 
brings  one  at  once  into  the  midst  of  agencies  that  imply 
for  their  power  and  success  the  immediate,  direct,  personal 
presence  and  working  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  If  this 
work  is  not  of  God,  it  is  nothing ;  worse  than  nothing — it  is 
an  awful  farce.  To  me  it  is  a  divine  reality.  It  was  no 
fanaticism  that  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  led  men  to  cry 
out "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ;"  and  when  I  have  sat  in  the 
midst  of  publicans  and  harlots,  convicts  and  thieves,  drunk- 
ards and  other  vile  and  wretched  human  beings  down  so 
low  in  misery  and  shame  that  no  human  arm  is  long  enough 
to  reach  them  or  strong  enough  to  raise  and  save  them ; 
when  I  have  heard  them  in  broken  accents,  amid  sobs  and 
tears,  tell  what  the  grace  of  God  has  done  for  them,  how  it 
had  brought  husbands  and  wives  together  in  peace  and 
comfort,  with  happy  children  around  them,  after  liquor  and 
crime  and  gaunt  want  had  broken  up  the  household ;  when 
I  have  heard  scores  and  scores  of  such  testimonies  ascribing 
all  their  salvation  to  Him  who  loved  them  and  died  for 
them,  lost  and  ruined  by  sin — the  tears  have  run  down 
like  rivers  of  waters  from  mine  eyes,  and  I  have  prayed  that 
hundreds  and  thousands  of  preachers  of  righteousness  like 
Jerry  McAuley  might  be  taken  from  prison  to  go  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  to  seek  and  to  save  them  that  are  lost. 

It  is  a  good  thing  to  write  and  print  and  spread  the  life 
of  such  a  man  as  the  hero  of  this  volume.  It  may  kindle 
the  flame  in  many  other  hearts.  Christians  in  other  walks 


Introduction.  xi 

of  life  than  he  trod  may  be  stirred  to  better  living.  And 
(may  God  in  infinite  mercy  grant  it !)  some  poor,  sinning 
soul,  some  wretched  and  sinking  soul,  some  poor  sinner, 
almost  as  bad  as  Jerry  was,  may  read  it  in  his  extremity, 
and  cry  out  with  this  ransomed  prisoner,  "  Lord  save  me,  I 
perish." 


To 

MARIA, 


THI  WILL   BELOVED  AND   LOVING  WIPK   AMD  TRUK  HKLPMKKT,  WHO  FAITHFULLY  LABOR! 

CIDB  BY  SIDE  WITH    JERRY,  SHAKING  ALL  THE  TRIALS  AND  TRIUMPHS  OP 

HIS    REDEEMED    UPS,  AND    WHO    BRAVELY   TOOK  UP    HIS 

WORK  WHERE   HE  LAID    IT  DOWN,  WHEN 

THE  LORD  CALLED  HIM  HOME, 

• 

Cftb  boluau  ft  mprrtfulla  twWritrt  bg 

THE  EDITOR. 


JERRY  MCAULEY. 


CHAPTER   I. 
TRANSFORMED. 

"  Our  young  life  had  dark  beginning, 

Helpless  and  alone  we  lay  ; 
Knowing  only  sin  and  sorrow, 

Till  the  Saviour  passed  that  way." 

THE  following  autobiographical  sketch  of  Jerry  McAuley 
and  the  beginning  of  his  Christian  work  was  written  in 
1875,  mainly  from  Jerry's  dictation,  and  was  widely  circu- 
lated and  read  at  the  time,  under  the  title  of  "  Transformed  ; 
or,  The  History  of  a  River  Thief."  With  a  careful  revision, 
and  with  some  additional  facts  relating  to  the  early  part  of 
Jerry's  redeemed  life  and  the  origin  of  the  Mission  in 
Water  Street,  supplied  in  their  proper  connection  by  a 
loving  hand,  it  is  here  reproduced  as  the  most  fitting 
introduction  to  the  present  volume. 


I  do  not  attempt  this  record  of  my  life  from  any  feeling 
of  vain-glory,  or  any  craving  for  notoriety.  Neither  is  it 
because  I  have  had  a  remarkable  history.  I  have  been  a 
great  sinner,  and  have  found  Jesus  a  great  Saviour  ;  and  this 
is  why  I  would  tell  my  story,  that  others  may  be  led  to 


IO  Disadvantages  in  Youth. 

adore  and  seek  the  blessed  Friend  who  saved,  and  has  thus 
far  kept  me  by  his  grace. 

I  was  born  in  Ireland.  Our  family  was  broken  up  by  sin, 
for  my  father  was  a  counterfeiter,  and  left  home  to  escape 
the  law,  before  I  knew  him.  I  was  placed  at  a  very  early 
age  in  the  family  of  my  grandmother,  who  was  a  devout 
Romanist.  My  first  recollections  of  her  are  of  her  counting 
her  beads,  and  kissing  the  floor  for  penance.  I  would  take 
the  opportunity  while  she  was  prostrated  upon  her  face,  to 
throw  things  at  her  head,  in  my  mischievous  play,  and  when 
she  rose  from  her  knees,  it  was  to  curse  and  swear  at  me. 
At  such  times  I  can  distinctly  remember  thinking,  though 
I  could  not  have  formed  the  thought  into  words,  "What 
sort  of  religion  is  this  that  requires  such  foolish  worship, 
and  allows  such  sinful  ways?"  I  can  trace  my  infidelity  to 
Rome  to  just  these  incidents. 

I  was  never  taught  or  sent  to  school,  but  left  to  have  my 
own  way;  to  roam  about  in  idleness,  doing  mischief  con- 
tinually, and  suffering  from  the  cruel  and  harsh  treatment 
of  those  who  had  the  care  of  me. 

At  the  age  of  thirteen  I  was  sent  to  this  country,  to  the 
care  of  a  married  sister  in  New  York  City.  Here  I  ran 
errands  in  the  family,  and  assisted  my  brother-in-law  in  his 
business,  and  soon,  by  the  practice  of  little  tricks,  became 
well  used  to  dishonesty,  and  was  as  great  a  rogue  as  one  of 
my  years  could  be.  After  a  while  I  felt  I  could  live  by 
my  own  wits,  and  left  my  sister's  home  to  take  care  of 
myself.  I  took  board  in  a  family  in  Water  Street,  where 
were  two  young  men  with  whom  I  associated  myself  in 
business.  I  earned  what  I  could,  and  stole  the  rest,  to 
supply  my  daily  wants. 

We  had  a  boat,  by  means  of  which  we  boarded  vessels 


Sent  to  State  Prison.  1 1 

in  the  night,  stealing  whatever  we  could  lay  our  hands  on. 
Here  I  began  my  career  as  a  river-thief.  In  the  daytime 
we  went  up  into  the  city  and  sold  our  ill-gotten  goods, 
and  with  the  proceeds  dressed  up,  and  then  spent  our  time, 
as  long  as  our  money  lasted,  in  the  vile  dens  of  Water 
Street,  practising  all  sorts  of  wickedness.  Here  I  learned 
to  be  a  prize-fighter,  and  by  degrees,  rapid  degrees,  rose 
through  all  the  grades  of  vice  and  crime,  till  I  became  a 
terror  and  nuisance  in  the  Fourth  Ward. 

I  was  only  nineteen  years  of  age  when  I  was  arrested  for 
highway  robbery — a  child  in  years,  but  a  man  in  sin.  I 
knew  nothing  of  the  criminal  act  which  was  charged  to 
my  account ;  but  the  rumsellers  and  inhabitants  of  the 
Fourth  Ward  hated  me  for  all  my  evil  ways,  and  were  glad 
to  get  rid  of  me.  So  they  swore  the  robbery  on  me,  and 
I  couldn't  help  myself.  I  had  no  friends,  no  advocate  at 
court  (it  is  a  bad  thing,  sinners,  not  to  have  an  advocate 
at  court),  and  without  any  just  cause  I  was  sentenced  to 
fifteen  years  in  State  prison.  I  burned  with  vengeance; 
but  what  could  I  do  ?  I  was  handcuffed,  and  sent  in  the 
cars  to  Sing-Sing. 

That  ride  was  the  saddest  hour  of  my  life.  I  looked 
back  on  my  whole  past  course,  on  all  my  hardships,  my 
misery  and  sins,  and  gladly  would  I  have  thrown  myself 
out  before  the  advancing  train,  and  ended  my  life.  It  was 
not  sorrow  for  sin  that  possessed  me,  but  a  heavy  weight 
seemed  to  press  me  down  when  I  thought  of  the  punish- 
ment I  had  got  to  suffer  for  my  wrong-doings,  and  an 
indignant,  revengeful  feeling  for  the  injustice  of  my 
sentence.  Fifteen  years  of  hard  labor  in  a  prison  to  look 
forward  to,  and  all  for  a  crime  I  was  as  innocent  of  as  the 
babe  unborn.  I  knew  I  had  done  enough  to  condemn  me, 


1 2  Resolves  on  Obedience. 

if  it  were  known ;  but  others,  as  bad  as  I,  were  at  liberty, 
and  I  was  suffering  the  penalty  for  one  who  was  at  that 
hour  roaming  at  will,  glorying  in  his  lucky  escape  from 
punishment,  and  caring  nothing  for  the  unhappy  dog  who 
was  bearing  it  in  his  stead.  How  my  heart  swelled  with 
rage,  and  then  sank  like  lead,  as  I  thought  of  my  helpless- 
ness in  the  hands  of  the  law,  without  a  friend  in  the  world. 

I  concluded,  however,  before  I  reached  the  end  of  that 
short  journey,  that  my  best  way  was  to  be  obedient  to 
prison  rules,  do  the  best  I  could  under  the  circumstances, 
and  trust  that  somebody  would  be  raised  up  to  help  me. 

When  I  arrived  at  the  prison — I  shall  never  forget  it — 
the  first  thing  that  attracted  my  attention  was  the  sentence 
over  the  door:  "  The  way  of  transgressors  is  hard."  Though 
I  could  not  read  very  well,  I  managed  to  spell  that  out.  It 
was  a  familiar  sentence,  which  I  had  heard  a  great  many 
times.  All  thieves  and  wicked  people  know  it  well,  and 
they  know,  too,  that  it  is  out  of  the  Bible.  It  is  a  well- 
worn  proverb  in  all  the  haunts  of  vice,  and  one  confirmed 
by  daily  experience.  And  how  strange  it  is  that,  knowing 
so  well  that  the  way  is  hard,  the  transgressors  will  still  go 
in  it. 

But  God  was  more  merciful  to  me  than  man.  His  pure 
eyes  had  seen  all  my  sin,  and  yet  he  pitied  and  loved  me, 
and  stretched  out  his  hand  to  save  me.  And  his  wonderful 
way  of  doing  it  was  to  shut  me  up  in  a  cell  within  those 
heavy  stone  walls.  There's  many  a  one  beside  me  who 
will  have  cause  to  thank  God  for  ever  and  ever  that  he 
was  shut  up  in  a  prison. 

I  was  put  to  the  carpet-weaving  business,  and  for  two 
years  not  a  word  could  be  said  against  me.  All  the  keepers 
and  guards  spoke  well  of  me.  I  minded  my  work,  and  was 


Life  in  Prison.  13 

quiet  and  orderly.  I  used  to  say  my  prayer — the  Lord's 
Prayer — every  day,  from  a  feeling  that  it  was  right  to  say  it, 
and  that  in  some  way  or  other  it  would  do  me  good.  I 
tried  to  learn  to  read  and  write,  and  improved  v£ry  much, 
more  especially  in  reading.  Then  I  got  cheap  novels  and 
read,  to  pass  away  the  time.  I  read  many  and  many  of 
them.  It  was  all  the  recreation  I  had,  and  diverted  my  mind 
from  my  dreary  surroundings.  I  was  supplied  with  them 
constantly,  and,  in  consequence,  my  head  was  filled  with 
low  and  wicked  thoughts.  I  took  a  fancy,  from  some  of 
the  remarkable  stories  I  read,  that  I  might  by  some  good 
fortune  by  and  by  effect  my  escape  from  the  prison,  and  then 
my  heart  would  fill  up  with  murderous  intentions  toward 
the  man  who  put  me  in. 

After  this  I  was  sick,  and  suffered  a  good  deal  for  two  or 
three  years,  and  became  at  times  uneasy  and  intractable. 
Then  I  had  to  suffer  severe  punishment ;  but  punishment 
never  did  me  a  particle  of  good,  it  only  made  me  harder 
and  harder. 

I  had  been  in  the  prison  four  or  five  years,  when,  one  Sun- 
day morning,  I  went  with  the  rest  to  service  in  the  chapel. 
I  was  moody  and  miserable.  As  I  took  my  seat,  I  raised  my 
eyes  carelessly  to  the  platform,  and  who  should  I  see  there 
beside  the  chaplain  but  a  man  named  Orville  Gardner,  who 
had  been  for  years  a  confederate  in  sin.  "  Awful  Gardner" 
was  the  name  by  which  I  had  always  known  him.  Since 
my  imprisonment  he  had  been  converted,  and  was  filled 
with  desire  to  come  to  the  prison,  that  he  might  tell  the 
glad  story  to  the  prisoners.  I  had  not  heard  he  was  com- 
ing, and  could  not  have  been  more  surprised  if  an  angel 
had  come  down  from  heaven.  I  knew  him  at  the  first 
glance,  although  he  was  so  greatly  changed  from  his  old 


14  A  Memorable  Service. 

rough  dress  and  appearance.  After  the  first  look  I  began 
to  question  in  my  mind  if  it  was  he  after  all,  and  thought  I 
must  be  mistaken  ;  but  the  moment  he  spoke  I  was  sure, 
and  my  attention  was  held  fast. 

He  said  he  did  not  feel  that  he  belonged  on  the  platform, 
where  the  ministers  of  God  and  good  men  stood  to  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  prisoners ;  he  was  not  worthy  of  such  a 
place.  So  he  came  down  and  stood  on  the  floor  in  front  of 
the  desk,  that  he  might  be  among  the  men.  He  told  them 
it  was  only  a  little  while  since  he  had  taken  off  the  stripes 
which  they  were  then  wearing ;  and  while  he  was  talking 
his  tears  fairly  rained  down  out  of  his  eyes.  Then  he  knelt 
down  and  prayed,  and  sobbed  and  cried,  till  I  do  not  believe 
there  was  a  dry  eye  in  the  whole  crowd.  Tears  filled  my 
eyes,  and  I  raised  my  hand  slowly  to  wipe  them  off,  for  I 
was  ashamed  to  have  my  companions  or  the  guards  see  me 
weep ;  but  how  I  wished  I  was  alone,  or  that  it  was  dark, 
that  I  might  give  way  to  my  feelings  unobserved.  I  knew 
this  man  was  no  hypocrite.  We  had  been  associated  in 
many  a  dark  deed  and  sinful  pleasure.  I  had  heard  oaths 
and  curses,  vile  and  angry  words  from  his  mouth,  and  I 
knew  he  could  not  talk  as  he  did  then  unless  some  great, 
wonderful  change  had  come  to  him.  I  devoured  every  word 
that  fell  from  his  lips,  though  I  could  not  understand  half 
I  heard.  One  sentence,  however,  impressed  me  deeply, 
which  he  said  was  a  verse  from  the  Bible.  The  Bible ! 
I  knew  there  was  such  a  book,  that  people  pretended 
it  was  a  message  from  God ;  but  I  had  never  cared  for  it, 
or  read  a  word  in  it.  But  now  God's  time  had  come,  and 
he  was  going  to  show  me  the  treasures  that  were  hid  in  that 
precious  book. 

I  went  back  to  my  cell.     How  dreary  is  Sunday  in  prison ! 


Reading  the  Bible.  1 5 

After  the  morning  service  in  the  chapel,  the  prisoners  are 
marched  back  to  their  cells,  taking  their  plate  of  dinner  with 
them  as  they  pass  the  dining-hall,  and  the  rest  of  the  day  is 
spent  in  solitude.  Oh,  those  long,  dismal  hours !  I  had 
generally  contrived  to  have  a  novel  on  hand,  but  that  day 
I  had  none.  What  I  had  heard  was  ringing  in  my  ears,  and 
the  thought  possessed  me  to  find  the  verse  which  had  so 
struck  me.  Every  prison-cell  is  supplied  with  a  Bible  ;  but, 
alas !  few  of  them  are  used.  Mine  I  had  never  touched 
since  the  day  I  entered  my  narrow  apartment,  and  laid  it 
away  in  the  ventilator.  I  took  it  down,  beat  the  dust  from 
it,  and  opened  it.  But  where  to  turn  to  find  the  words  I 
wanted  I  knew  not.  There  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  begin 
at  the  beginning,  and  read  till  I  came  to  them.  On  and  on 
I  read.  How  interested  I  grew !  It  seemed  better  than 
any  novel  I  had  ever  read,  and  I  could  scarcely  leave  it  to 
go  to  sleep.  I  become  so  fascinated,  that  from  that  day  on 
it  was  my  greatest  delight.  I  was  glad  when  I  was  released 
from  work,  that  I  might  get  hold  of  my  Bible ;  and  night 
after  night,  when  daylight  was  gone,  I  stood  up  by  my 
grated  door  to  read  by  the  dim  light  which  came  from  the 
corridor.  I  had  supposed  it  to  be  a  dry,  dead  thing — a 
book  only  fit  for  priests  and  saints,  but  now,  whenever  I 
could  get  a  chance  to  communicate  with  my  mates  in  the 
workshop,  I  told  them  that  it  was  a  "  splendid  thing,  that 
Bible." 

I  never  found  that  verse.  I  had  forgotten  it  in  my  new 
interest  in  the  book.  But  I  found  a  good  many  verses  that 
made  me  stop  and  think.  At  last  I  came  to  first  Timothy, 
fourth  chapter,  which  begins  in  this  way :  "  Now  the  Spirit 
speaketh  expressly,  that  in  the  latter  times  some  shall  de- 
part from  the  faith,  giving  heed  to  seducing  spirits,  and 


1 6  Some  Strange  Discoveries. 

doctrines  of  devils ;  speaking  lies  in  hypocrisy ;  having 
their  conscience  seared  with  a  hot  iron  ;  forbidding  to 
marry,  and  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God 
hath  created  to  be  received  with  thanksgiving  of  them 
which  believe  and  know  the  truth."  I  threw  down  the 
book,  and  kicked  it  about  my  cell.  "  The  vile  heretics,"  I 
cried  ;  "  there's  their  lies.  I  always  heard  the  old  book  was 
a  pack  of  lies.  That's  the  way  they  hold  us  Catholics  up." 

Something  seemed  to  whisper  to  me,  "  Go  get  a  Catholic 
Bible,  and  then  you  can  prove  this  to  be  false."  I  couldn't 
get  rid  of  the  thought.  I  took  my  first  chance  to  go  to  the 
library  and  ask  for  a  Catholic  Bible.  They  looked  at  me 
pretty  sharp,  as  though  they  would  like  to  understand  what 
I  was  driving  at ;  but  they  gave  me  what  I  wanted,  and  I 
took  it  to  my  cell.  Eagerly  I  turned  to  that  chapter. 
There  they  were,  the  very  same  words,  "  forbidding  to 
marry,"  and  "  commanding  to  abstain  from  meats."  But 
there  were  notes  in  the  margin,  which  boxed  it  up  so,  that 
my  suspicions  were  at  once  aroused.  I  said,  "  It  surely  is 
the  Word  of  God,  and  they  are  trying  to  get  out  of  it."  I 
turned  to  various  parts,  to  Kings,  Isaiah,  and  other  books, 
and  I  found  that  the  words  in  both  were  almost  the  same, 
the  meaning  was  the  same  always,  and  I  was  in  despair. 
Then  I  read  the  whole  book  through  again,  and  liked  it 
better  the  second  time  than  I  did  the  first.  The  book  of 
Revelation  particularly  astonished  me.  I  tried  to  believe, 
but  I  could  not  understand  it. 

I  was  resting  one  night  from  reading,  walking  up  and 
down  and  thinking  what  a  change  religion  had  made  in 
Gardner,  when  I  began  to  have  a  burning  desire  to  have  the 
same.  I  could  not  get  rid  of  it :  but  what  could  I  do  ? 
Something  within  me  said  "  Pray."  I  couldn't  frame  a 


He  Desires  to  be  Saved.  1 7 

prayer.  The  voice  said,  "  Don't  you  remember  the  prayer 
of  the  publican,  'God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner'?"  I 
thought  of  my  own  religion,  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  in 
which  I  had  been  brought  up,  and  I  asked,  "  Why  can't  I  be 
good  in  that?"  "But  that  will  not  save  me  as  Gardner's 
does  him,"  I  thought ;  "  it  does  not  keep  me  free  from  my 
sins."  There  was  a  struggle  in  my  mind.  "  If  I  send  for 
the  priest,"  I  said  to  myself,  "  he  will  tell  me  I  must  do  pen- 
ance, say  so  many  prayers,  and  do  something  for  mortifica- 
tion, and  such  as  that.  If  I  ask  the  chaplain,  he  will  tell  me 
to  be  sorry  for  my  sins,  and  cry  to  God  for  forgiveness. 
Both  can't  be  right."  The  voice  within  said,  "  Go  to  God  ; 
He  will  tell  you  what  is  right." 

What  a  struggle  I  went  through !  I  knew  I  ought  to 
pray ;  but  if  there  had  been  ten  thousand  people  there  I 
couldn't  have  been  more  ashamed  to  do  it  than  I  was  there 
all  alone.  I  felt  myself  blushing.  Every  sin  stared  me  in 
the  face.  I  recollected  the  "  Whosoever"  in  the  Bible. 
"  That  means  you,"  said  the  inward  voice.  "  But  I'm  so 
wicked,"  I  urged  ;  "  everything  but  a  murderer,  and  that 
many  a  time  in  my  will."  The  struggle  did  not  seem  all  my 
own  ;  it  was  as  if  God  was  fighting  the  devil  for  me.  To 
every  thought  that  came  up  there  came  a  verse  of  the  Scrip- 
ture. I  fell  on  my  knees,  and  was  so  ashamed  I  jumped  up 
again.  I  fell  on  my  knees  again,  and  cried  out  for  help,  and 
then,  as  ashamed  as  before,  I  rose  again.  I  put  it  off  for 
that  time  and  went  to  bed. 

This  conflict  went  on  for  three  or  four  weeks.  It  was 
fearful.  I  wonder  now  at  the  long-suffering  mercy  of  my 
God.  I  wonder  that  the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  grieved  to  de- 
part from  me  forever.  But  at  last  the  Lord  sent  a  softness 
and  tenderness  into  my  soul,  and  I  shed  many  tears.  Then 


1 8  A  Terrible  Struggle. 

I  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  began  to  read  the  Bible  on  my 
knees. 

The  Sunday  services  seemed  to  do  me  no  good.  They 
were  dry  and  dead  to  me.  Once  in  a  while  a  man  full  of 
the  Holy  Ghost  preached  for  us,  and  at  such  times  I  got  a 

little  help.  About  that  date  Miss  D began  to  visit  the 

prison,  and  I  was  sent  for  one  day  to  meet  her  in  the 
library.  This  young  lady  had  learned  that  I  was  seeking 
the  Saviour,  and  had  asked  to  see  me.  She  talked  with  me, 
and  then  knelt  down  to  pray.  I  felt  ashamed,  but  I  knelt 
beside  her.  I  looked  through  my  fingers  and  watched  her. 
I  saw  her  tears  fall.  An  awe  I  cannot  describe  fell  on  me. 
It  seemed  dreadful  to  me,  the  prayer  of  that  holy  woman. 
It  made  my  sins  rise  up  till  they  looked  to  me  as  if  they 
rose  clean  up  to  the  throne  of  God,  and  it  appeared  to  me 
as  if  they  troubled  God,  they  rose  up  so  high.  What  should 
I  do  ?  Oh,  what  can  a  poor  sinner  do  when  there  is  nothing 
between  him  and  God  but  a  life  of  -dark,  terrible  sin  ? 

That  night  I  fell  on  my  knees  on  the  hard  stone-floor  of 
my  cell,  resolved  to  stay  there,  whatever  might  happen,  till 
I  found  forgiveness.  I  was  desperate.  I  felt  just  like  the 
words  of  the  hymn, 

"  Perhaps  he  will  admit  my  plea, 
Perhaps  will  hear  my  prayer, 
But  if  I  perish  I  will  pray, 
And  perish  only  there." 

I  prayed,  and  then  I  stopped ;  I  prayed  again,  and 
stopped;  but  still  I  continued  kneeling.  My  knees  were 
rooted  to  those  cold  stones.  My  eyes  were  closed,  and  my 
hands  tightly  clasped,  and  I  was  determined  I  would  stay 
so  till  morning,  till  I  was  called  to  my  work ;  "  and  then," 


Light  at  Last.  19 

said  I  to  myself,  "  if  I  get  no  relief,  I  will  never,  never  pray 
again."  I  felt  that  I  might  die,  but  I  didn't  care  for  that. 

All  at  once  it  seemed  as  if  something  supernatural  was  in 
my  room.  I  was  afraid  to  open  my  eyes.  I  was  in  an 
agony,  and  the  sweat  rolled  off  my  face  in  great  drops.  Oh, 
how  I  longed  for  God's  mercy !  Just  then,  in  the  very 
height  of  my  distress,  it  seemed  as  if  a  hand  was  laid  upon 
my  head;  and  these  words  came  to  me :  "  My  son,  thy  sins, 
which  are  many,  are  forgiven."  I  do  not  know  if  I  heard  a 
voice,  yet  the  words  were  distinctly  spoken  to  my  soul. 
Oh,  the  precious  Christ !  How  plainly  I  saw  him,  lifted  on 
the  cross  for  my  sins  !  What  a  thrill  went  through  me.  I 
jumped  from  my  knees  ;  I  paced  up  and  down  my  cell.  A 
heavenly  light  seemed  to  fill  it ;  a  softness  and  a  perfume 
like  the  fragrance  of  sweetest  flowers.  I  did  not  know  if  I 
was  living  or  not.  I  clapped  my  hands  and  shouted, 
"  Praise  God  !  Praise  God !" 

One  of  the  guards  was  passing  along  the  corridor,  and 
called  out,  "What's  the  matter?"  "I've  found  Christ,"  I 
answered ;  "  my  sins  are  all  forgiven.  Glory  to  God !"  He 
took  out  a  paper  from  his  pocket  and  wrote  the  number  of 
my  cell,  and  threatened  to  report  me  in  the  morning.  But 
I  didn't  care  for  that.  My  soul  was  all  taken  up  with  my 
great  joy.  But  the  next  morning  nothing  happened  to  me, 
and  I  think  the  Lord  made  him  forget  it.  What  a  night 
that  was !  I  shall  surely  never  forget  the  time  when  the 
Lord  appeared  as  my  gracious  Deliverer  from  sin. 


2O  Seeking  for  Souls. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STRUGGLES  AND  TEMPTATIONS. 

"In  the  way  a  thousand  snares 
Lie,  to  take  us  unawares. 
Satan,  with  malicious  art, 
Watches  each  unguarded  part." 

FROM  that  time  life  was  all  new  to  me.  Work  was 
nothing ;  hard  fare  nothing ;  scowls  and  harsh  words 
nothing.  I  was  happy,  for  Jesus  was  my  friend ;  my  sins 
were  washed  away,  and  my  heart  was  full  of  love  and 
thanksgiving.  I  hated  every  sinful  way.  I  had  formerly 
smoked,  but  something  within  now  said  it  was  wrong,  and 
I  gave  it  up. 

And  the  Lord  began  to  use  me  in  the  prison  among  my 
fellow-convicts.  A  great  work  was  commenced  there,  and 
spread  from  cell  to  cell.  The  prisoners  began  to  read  their 
Bibles,  to  call  upon  God,  and  to  praise  the  name  of  Jesus. 

Jack  Dare  was  the  first  man  I  began  to  pray  for.  There 
had  been  a  revolt  in  the  prison,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
leaders.  This  revolt  occurred  some  time  before  my  conver- 
sion, but  I  had  no  hand  in  it. 

Jack  was  in  the  same  workshop  with  me,  and  was  quite  a 
favorite.  The  convicts  often  paired  off  in  friendships,  and 
he  and  I  went  together.  If  either  of  us  had  any  little 
luxury  we  shared  it  with  the  other,  as  children  would  do; 
and  when  I  got  salvation  I  wanted  to  share  that  with  him. 


A  Trophy  Won.  21 

I  approached  him  on  several  occasions  with  the  subject,  but 
he  repulsed  me  with  sneers.  He  seemed  to  think  I  was 
playing  a  bold  game  to  get  out  of  prison  ;  but  he  learned  at 
last  that  I  was  in  earnest. 

He  found  me  several  times  weeping  and  poring  over  my 
Bible.  Once  he  lifted  his  hand  to  strike  me,  and  even  spit 
at  me ;  but  when  I  told  him  that  I  had  no  resentment,  and 
could  stand  it  for  Jesus'  sake,  he  was  touched.  That 
astonished  him.  I  said  nothing  more  for  a  week,  and  he 
seemed  to  be  getting  worse  all  the  time  ;  but  I  felt  sure  the 
Spirit  of  God  was  striving  with  him.  I  kept  on  praying 
with  strong  crying  and  tears,  and  I  knew  God  would  save 
him. 

One  day  he  told  me  he  had  been  praying,  but  it  seemed 
dreadful  to  him  to  pray.  I  knew  all  about  that  from  my 
own  experience.  Not  long  after  this,  as  he  came  out  of  his 
cell  one  morning  to  go  to  work,  I  caught  sight  of  his  face, 
and  it  was  all  lit  up.  He  was  at  the  head  of  the  column, 
and  I  near  the  foot  ;  he  just  glanced  at  me  with  a  smile, 
and  gave  an  upward  turn  of  his  eye  to  heaven,  and  then  I 
knew  it  was  all  right  with  him.  I  could  scarcely  keep  from 
shouting. 

The  first  one  he  told  the  good  news  to  was  the  keeper. 
"  Jack,"  said  he,  "  I'm  glad  you've  got  religion."  It  was 
not  that  he  cared  for  religion,  but  he  was  afraid  of  Jack,  he 
was  such  a  desperate  character,  and  now  he  knew  he  would 
have  no  more  trouble  with  him. 

All  the  time  I  had  to  work  for  Christ  was  about  half  an 
hour  each  day,  and  I  improved  it.  This  was  when  the 
regular  keeper  was  relieved,  and  we  were  allowed  then  to 
talk.  I  had  my  men  all  picked  out,  and  I  went  from  one 
to  the  other,  saying  the  few  earnest  words  I  could  say. 


22  .    Pardoned  and  Released. 

Several  of  these  were  converted.  One  or  two  wandered 
away  when  they  left  the  prison,  having  no  Christian  friend 
to  look  after  them.  Since  that  time  they  have  come  into 
the  Helping  Hand,  and  have  been  sweetly  restored. 

About  two  years  I  went  on  thus.  My  faith  was  so 
simple,  I  felt  the  Lord  would  give  me  anything  reasonable  I 
might  ask.  And  I  never  had  a  doubt  until  after  I  came  out 
of  prison  and  mingled  with  Christians,  and  their  wavering, 
unstable,  half-and-half  faith  staggered  me.  My  cell  seemed 
all  that  time  like  heaven,  and  I  cared  very  little  whether  I 
ever  came  out  of  it  or  not.  The  love  of  Christ  was  so 
abounding,  it  drowned  every  trouble.  No  one  could  insult 
me.  If  my  comrades  abused  me,  I  felt  that  I  could  pray 
for  and  forgive  them. 

After  this  I  was  led  to  pray  for  my  liberty.  At  first  I 
felt  that  the  desire  to  be  set  free  was  of  the  devil.  But  I 
asked  the  Lord  about  it,  and  he  gave  me  the  assurance  that 
my  desire  should  be  granted.  And  it  was:  I  received  a 
pardon  from  the  Governor  after  having  served  about  half 
my  time — seven  years  and  six  months. 

When  I  got  out  of  prison  I  was  more  lonely  than  I  had 
been  in  my  cell.  I  could  not  go  back  to  my  old  haunts  and 
companions,  and  I  knew  no  others.  If  I  had  found  a  single 
Christian  friend  at  that  time,  it  would  have  saved  me  years 
of  misery.  And  here  I  must  say  that  it  does  not  seem  to 
me  right  to  turn  men  out  of  prison,  and  make  no  provision 
for  their  future  well-doing.  Many  a  poor  fellow  has  been 
driven  to  crime,  and  back  again  to  his  prison-cell,  for  want 
of  kindly  counsel  and  direction  when  he  first  came  out 
again  into  the  world. 

I  wanted  to  do  right,  to  please  God.  The  first  thing  I 
did  was  to  inquire  for  a  prayer-meeting.  I  was  told  of  one ; 


Becomes  a  Backslider.  23 

but  when  I  got  to  the  door  I  was  afraid  to  go  in.  I  had 
never  been  to  a  Protestant  meeting,  and  nobody  invited  me 
in.  I  kept  steadily  away  from  the  Fourth  Ward,  lest  I 
should  be  tempted  by  old  associates.  Unfortunately  the 
only  friend  I  found  directed  me  to  a  lager-bier  saloon  to 
board.  Lager-bier  had  come  up  since  I  went  to  prison,  and 
I  did  not  know  what  it  was.  They  told  me  it  was  a  harm- 
less drink,  wholesome  and  good,  and  simple  as  root-beer. 
I  drank  it,  and  then  began  my  downfall.  My  head  got 
confused.  The  old  appetite  was  awakened.  From  that 
time  I  drank  it  every  day,  and  it  was  not  long  before  I 
went  from  that  to  stronger  liquors. 

The  night  I  stopped  praying  I  shall  never  forget.  I  felt 
as  wretched  as  I  did  the  day  I  went  to  prison.  And  now  I 
began  a  career  of  sin  and  misery  which  I  cannot  fully 
describe.  Satan  got  completely  the  upper  hand  of  me. 
The  dear  Saviour  who  had  been  so  gracious  and  so  precious 
to  me  in  the  prison  I  let  go.  How  I  wonder  now  that  he 
did  not  let  me  go !  But  he  did  not. 

I  had  obtained  work  in  a  large  hat-shop.  The  workmen 
had  a  strike,  and  I  was  one  of  the  ringleaders.  We  were  all 
dismissed,  and  thus  I  was  thrown  out  of  employment. 
Then,  it  being  war-time,  I  went  into  the  bounty  business. 
Rascally  business,  that.  I  would  pick  men  up  wherever  I 
could  find  them,  get  them  half  drunk,  and  coax  them  to 
enlist.  They  received  the  bounty,  and  I  had  a  premium  on 
each  of  half  the  amount.  I  made  a  great  deal  of  money 
in  this  way,  which  I  spent  freely.  I  became  a  sporting 
man,  went  often  to  the  races,  and  my  downward  course  was 
greatly  quickened. 

I  got  in  with  a  man,  who  has  since  died  of  delirium  tre- 
mens,  and  went  boating  with  him  on  the  river.  We  would 


24  Returning  to  the  Old  Ways. 

buy  stolen  goods  of  the  sailors,  compel  them  to  enlist  on 
fear  of  being  arrested,  and  we  took  the  bounty.  We  went 
on  for  some  time  in  this  thieving,  racing,  speculating,  and 
bounty  business.  We  kept  a  recruiting-office  in  New  York 
and  another  in  Brooklyn,  and  found  plenty  to  do,  and 
might  have  grown  rich  if  I  had  saved  what  I  made. 

But  all  this  time  my  conscience  was  far  from  easy.  I 
remembered  the  days  at  Sing-Sing  when  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shone  in  my  cell,  and  I  was  shouting  with  joy  for  sins 
forgiven,  and  improving  every  moment  to  win  souls  to 
Christ.  I  knew  I  was  all  wrong,  and  yet  I  could  not  stop. 
I  seemed  to  be  on  a  down  track,  and  rushing  at  furious 
speed.  When  I  felt  the  most  troubled  I  would  go  to  drink- 
ing, and  try  to  drown  conscience  in  whiskey. 

After  the  war  was  over  I  went  to  boating -exclusively, 
buying  and  selling  smuggled  and  stolen  goods.  There  was 
a  good  deal  of  this  business  among  sailors  and  captains.  I 
gave  counterfeit  money  for  the  goods,  until  I  became  well 
known  for  this,  and  then  I  had  to  give  it  up,  for  no  one 
would  steal  for  me  when  they  found  I  gave  them  nothing 
for  it.  From  this  I  became  a  river-thief,  boarding  vessels 
at  night,  and  doing  the  stealing  myself.  How  many  nar- 
row escapes  from  death  I  had  while  engaged  in  this  wicked 
business! 

One  night  we  were  out  on  the  river  in  our  boat,  looking 
for  chances.  We  had  been  disappointed  in  some  of  our 
plans  at  Greenpoint,  and  pulled  down  to  the  Williamsburg 
ferry,  where  we  fastened  our  craft  to  the  Idaho,  one  of  the 
regular  ferryboats,  to  be  towed  across  to  the  New  York 
side.  We  had  steamed  out  a  little  way  into  the  river,  when 
the  Idaho  was  discovered  to  be  on  fire.  It  seemed  but  the 
work  of  a  moment  from  the  first  alarm,  till  the  whole  boat 


Narrow  Escapes.  25 

was  in  flames.  The  greatest  confusion  prevailed  among  the 
crew  and  passengers.  We  let  go  as  soon  as  we  could,  for 
fear  we  should  be  swamped ;  but  before  we  could  push  off 
two  men  jumped  in.  We  rowed  them  to  the  shore  and 
then  came  back,  not  to  save  life,  but  to  get  booty.  An- 
other ferryboat  came  alongside  and  rescued  about  forty  of 
the  passengers,  but  there  were  ten  or  twelve  who  threw 
themselves  into  the  water,  and  these  we  picked  up.  We 
saved  one  Christian  woman.  We  held  on  to  her  as  she 
clinched  the  sides  of  the  boat  with  her  hands.  The  whole 
scene  was  terrific.  The  fire  raging,  the  screams  of  the 
perishing,  the  struggles  of  the  poor  creatures  in  the  water, 
impressed  my  mind  deeply  with  the  thought  of  the  last 
day  and  the  fiery  hell  to  which  I  knew  the  sinner  must  go. 
And  yet  God  used  us  wicked  people  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
terror  and  confusion  to  save  his  children.  My  partner 
wanted  me  to  let  the  people  go,"  and  pick  up  the  cloaks, 
hats,  and  various  things  that  were  floating  in  the  river;  but 
I  said,  "  No ;  I  haven't  got  so  low  as  that  yet."  And  I 
thank  God  now  he  helped  me  do  what  he  did,  and  get  all 
those  poor  people  safe  to  the  land. 

Another  night  in  Brooklyn  we  stole  a  rope-fender  off  a 
ship,  the  whole  value  of  which  was  not  more  than  a  dollar 
and  a  half,  and  yet  for  that  we  could  run  such  fearful  risks. 
The  captain  of  the  vessel  saw  us,  and  seizing  his  revolver 
fired  at  us,  once,  twice,  four  times.  The  balls  came  so  close 
that  I  could  feel  them  as  they  whizzed  past  my  head,  but 
they  did  not  hit.  God  preserved  me  that  time  also ;  for  what  ? 

After.  I  got  round  the  wharf  and  out  of  danger,  I  felt 
frightened  more  than  before.  Something  whispered,  "  If 
that  bullet  had  hit  you,  where  would  you  have  been?"  and 
the  response  of  my  conscience  was,  "  In  hell." 


26  Almost  Drowned. 

All  the  time  I  was  prosecuting  this  business,  I  had  a 
longing  in  my  sober  moments  to  be  a  better  man,  to  lead 
an  honest  and  sober  life ;  but  I  felt  that  after  all  the  joy 
and  peace  I  had  before  had,  I  never  could  come  to  God 
again.  Satan  always  quoted  that  text  to  me,  "  For  it  is 
impossible  for  those  who  were  once  enlightened,  and  have 
tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  and  were  made  partakers  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  ...  if  they  shall  fall  away,  to  renew  them 
again  unto  repentance."  So  to  quell  these  memories  and 
convictions,  I  kept  all  the  time  under  the  influence  of 
liquor.  If  any  one  had  spoken  to  me  kindly  and  in  a 
Christian  spirit  at  that  time,  it  would  have  subdued  me,  but 
no  one  came  near  the  poor,  wretched  outcast. 

One  night  we  went  over  to  Brooklyn  on  a  plundering  ex- 
pedition. I  was  very  drunk.  There  was  a  certain  vessel  at 
the  wharf  which  we  had  our  eye  upon,  but  I  was  too  intoxi- 
cated to  do  my  share  of  the  work,  so  I  stayed  in  the  boat 
while  my  partner  boarded  the  ship.  By  some  mishap  I  fell 
into  the  water.  The  boat  went  one  way,  and  the  eddy 
carried  me  in  another  direction,  and  out  from  the  wharf.  I 
went  down  and  touched  bottom,  and  rose  to  the  surface. 
Again  I  sank  and  rose.  The  third  time,  the  thought  came 
to  me,  "  This  is  the  last,  and  now  you  are  gone — you  are 
drowned."  Hell  seemed  opening  under  my  feet,  and  I 
fancied  I  could  hear  the  wails  and  shrieks  of  the  lost. 
Then  something  said,  "Call  on  God."  But  how  could  I? 
I  felt  it  was  too  mean  ;  I  had  sinned  too  fearfully.  But  I 
did  call,  and  the  Lord  heard  me.  I  seemed  to  be  lifted 
right  up  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  the  boat,  which 
had  drifted  off  in  another  direction,  was  brought  right  to 
me,  so  that  I  could  get  hold  of  it.  I  can't  tell  how  it  was, 
but  it  always  seemed  to  me  a  miracle.  The  water  had 


Better  Days  Dawn.  27 

sobered  me,  and  after  I  got  hold  of  the  boat  I  managed  to 
get  in.  After  I  was  in,  something  seemed  to  say  to  me, 
"  God  has  saved  you  for  the  last  time.  If  you  ever  go  out 
on  the  river  again,  Go'd  will  let  you  drop  into  hell  and  be 
lost."  It  was  a  very  clear,  strong  impression  on  my  mind, 
but  instead  of  softening  me  it  made  me  angry. 

I  took  my  partner  into  the  boat  without  a  word.  We 
rowed  across  the  river,  and  I  went  home  and  dried  my 
clothes.  What  a  load  of  guilt  was  upon  me!  I  could  think 
of  nothing  else  to  do,  and  to  rid  myself  of  it  I  drank,  and 
drank,  and  drank.  But  no  amount  of  liquor  could  drown 
that  inward  voice.  In  spite  of  all,  I  would  have  gone  out 
again,  but  my  partner  met  with  an  accident  which  prevented 
his  going,  so,  notwithstanding  my  desires,  I  did  not.  We 
had  no  money ;  I  couldn't  borrow,  and  I  was  actually  in 
want. 

This  may  seem  strange  to  some  ;  but  while  we  made  a 
good  deal  of  money  in  our  wicked  life,  we  laid  up  nothing, 
but  spent  as  fast  as  we  got  it.  It  was  the  wages  of  iniquity, 
and  as  the  Bible  says,  "  put  into  a  bag  with  holes,"  so  that 
it  did  us  no  good. 

The  sting  of  conscience  remained  with  me,  and  a  strange 
desire  to  be  out  of  this  wicked  business,  and  in  some  honora- 
ble employment.  It  seemed  wonderful  that  such  feelings 
should  so  haunt  me  all  the  time  ;  but  now  I  can  see  that  it 
was  the  convicting  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  was  pursu- 
ing me,  and  would  not  let  me  go  until  I  had  been  brought 
back  from  my  wanderings. 

The  John  Allen  excitement  had  just  commenced  in  Water 
Street,  and  the  good  Christian  people  were  going  through 
the  ward  to  bring  in  the  sinners  to  the  meetings.  I  was  sit- 
ting in  my  room  one  of  these  wretched  days,  when  I  heard 


28  He  Finds  a  Friend. 

a  stranger  in  the  hall  below.  The  landlady  was  ill  up-stairs, 
and  the  person  who  had  entered  came  up.  Just  outside  my 
door  I  heard  a  pleasant  voice  say  to  her,  "  Do  you  love 
Jesus  ?"  That  voice — those  words !  It  seemed  like  long- 
forgotten  music.  It  recalled  the  past  happy  days  when  I 
had  known  the  love  of  Jesus,  and  my  heart  was  deeply 
touched. 

"  No,  indade,  do  I  love  Jesus ;  and  who  is  he  ?"  was  the 
rough  answer  I  heard. 

"  My  good  woman,  and  don't  you  know  who  Jesus  is?" 
and  then  the  person  passed  on  to  the  top  of  the  house,  to 
see  another  inmate  of  the  house,  whom  he  had  been  sent  to 
visit,  and  the  landlady  came  into  my  room. 

"  Who  is  that  ?"  said  I. 

"  Oh,  it's  one  of  them  tract  pedlers,"  said  she. 

"Why  don't  you  treat  the  man  with  respect?"  said  I. 

She  was  silent,  but  I  thought  at  once  that  perhaps  this 
man,  whoever  he  might  be,  might  get  me  a  job  of  honest 
work ;  so  I  went  out  and  waited  on  the  landing  till  he  came 
down-stairs.  He  saw  me  ;  but  I  was  a  frightful-looking  ob- 
ject, and  I  think  he  was  a  little  scared  at  facing  me.  How- 
ever, I  accosted  him,  and  he  told  me  to  come  down-stairs 
and  he  would  talk  with  me.  I  had  a  colored  shirt  on,  an 
old  pair  of  pants,  and  my  hair  was  cropped  pretty  close.  I 
don't  wonder  the  missionary  didn't  want  to  talk  with  me  on 
the  landing,  but  preferred  to  have  me  below  on  the  pave- 
ment. 

We  walked  out  together,  up  the  street,  till  we  came  to 
the  New  Bowery.  As  we  approached  the  Howard  Mission 
he  invited  me  in.  I  didn't  know  until  then  that  there  was 
such  a  place.  A  gentleman  there  met  us,  and  spoke  to  me 
very  kindly.  They  both  said  that  if  I  would  sign  the  pledge 


A  Wonderful  Text.  29 

they  would  see  what  they  could  do  for  me.  The  idea  struck 
me  as  it  never  had  done  before,  that  a  drunkard  like  me 
couldn't  get  work,  and  there  was  no  hope  of  decent  employ- 
ment unless  I  did  reform.  So  I  signed  it.  But  I  told  them 
I  shouldn't  be  likely  to  keep  it,  that  I  had  taken  it  many 
times  before,  and  broken  it.  I  wanted  to  be  honest,  but  I 
knew  I  couldn't  keep  it.  "  Try  it  again,"  they  both  said, 
"  and  ask  God  to  help  you."  "  Well,  to  please  you,  I  will," 
I  said. 

I  went  right  home  from  there  and  told  my  partner  what 
I  had  done.  How  he  laughed  !  "  You  take  the  pledge !" 
he  said.  He  had  a  bottle  of  gin  in  his  hand  at  that  moment, 
and  turning  out  a  glass  offered  it  to  me.  "  Tom,"  said  I,  "  I 
have  just  taken  the  pledge."  But  I  drank  it ;  and  as  I  put 
down  the  glass,  I  added,  "  Now  this  is  the  last  drink  I  shall 
ever  take."  "  Yes,  till  you  get  the  next,"  said  he. 

Just  at  that  moment  in  walked  the  missionary.  I  kept  as 
far  away  from  him  as  I  could,  so  that  he  might  not  smell  my 
breath.  I  think  if  he  had  asked  me  I  should  have  honestly 
confessed  what  I  had  done.  But  he  did  not.  He  only  in- 
vited me  to  go  out  and  walk  with  him.  I  went ;  and  as  we 
walked  I  told  him  I  was  going  out  on  the  river  that  night, 
for  we  were  dead  broke,  I  was  hungry,  and  must  have 
money. 

He  looked  sad  and  troubled.  "  Jerry,"  said  he,  "  before 
you  shall  do  that,  I'll  take  this  coat  off  my  back  and  pawn 
it,  and  give  you  the  money." 

I  looked  at  the  coat  and  saw  it  was  worn  and  old,  and  I 
was  touched  to  the  heart.  It  was  as  much  as  I  could  do  to 
keep  the  tears  out  of  my  eyes.  "  Here's  this  good  man,"  I 
said  to  myself,  "  poor,  as  I  know  he  must  be,  willing  to  take 
the  coat  off  his  back  and  pawn  it  to  keep  me  from  doing 


30  Comi)ig  Hack  to  God. 

wrong."  I  don't  know  as  he  saw  the  effect  of  his  words,  but 
I  hung  my  head. 

"  I  will  give  you  a  text  out  of  the  Bible,"  said  he.  "  '  Seek 
ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his  righteousness,  and  all 
these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.'  " 

I  remember  my  answer:  "I'll  take  that  text  and  trust 
God." 

Then  he  went  away,  and  in  a  little  while  he  brought  me 
fifty  cents.  I  got  something  to  eat,  and  we  did  not  go  out 
boating. 

The  next  day,  as  Tom  and  I,  with  Maria  (now  my  be- 
loved wife  and  helper)  and  Nellie,  the  two  girls  with  whom 
Tom  and  I  were  intimate,  were  in  our  room  together,  the 
missionary  with  some  Christian  ladies  came  in  to  see  us. 
They  talked  with  us  a  while,  and  then  said  they  would  pray. 
I  wished  they  wouldn't,  but  I  had  not  the  courage  to  say  so, 
and  they  went  on.  Those  prayers  had  a  wonderful  effect 
upon  me. 

Day  after  day  my  new  friend  followed  me  up,  and  so 
clotely  that  I  could  get  no  chance  to  drink.  "  Tom,"  I 
would  say,  "  I'm  going  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf."  But  Tom 
would  answer,  "  Will  the  Lord  come  down  from  heaven  to 
give  you  a  beefsteak  ?"  The  missionary  would  often  repeat 
the  text  he  had  given  me,  but  Tom  wouldn't  accept  it.  I 
felt,  however,  that  I  could.  I  had  had  some  experience 
which  he  had  not,  and  I  believed  the  Word  of  the 
Lord. 

Soon  after  this  we  were  invited  to  the  missionary's  house 
to  take  tea.  He  lent  me  a  coat  to  wear.  After  tea  they 
had  singing  and  prayer.  I  cried  and  cried. 

"  Pray  for  yourself,"  said  he,  "  and  God  will  save 
you." 


New  Temptations.  31 

"  I  don't  know  how,"  I  said  ;  "  I  can't  put  the  words  to- 
gether." It  wasn't  that  I  had  forgotten  all  about  praying; 
but  after  I  had  sinned  so  fearfully,  I  felt  afraid  to  utter 
such  solemn  words. 

"  Pray  the  prayer  of  the  publican,"  some  one  cried ; 
"  '  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.'  " 

I  prayed  it.  My  heart  was  all  broken,  and  I  repeated 
the  words  over  and  over. 

"  Put  in  '  For  Jesus'  sake,'  "  said  the  missionary. 

So  I  put  that  in,  and  oh,  the  joy  that  came  into  my 
heart :  not  like  the  first  time,  but  more  calm  and  peace- 
ful. 

"  I  am  saved,"  I  cried  ;  "  Jesus  has  saved  me." 

Oh,  the  joy  and  excitement  of  that  evening!  I  shall 
never  forget  it.  These  good  people  had  come  down  into 
the  Fourth  Ward  to  labor  among  the  very  lowest  of  low 
and  wicked  men  and  women,  and  God  had  given  them  a 
trophy  in  me,  one  of  the  hardest  cases  in  the  ward.  How 
their  faith  was  strengthened  ! 

After  that  the  missionary  used  often  to  walk  round  with 
me,  his  arm  in  mine.  This  was  a  great  help  to  me,  for  all 
my  old  companions  had  heard  of  my  conversion,  and  it  was 
such  a  strange  event  that  they  would  shout  after  me.  So 
it  was  a  protection  to  be  with  some  one  whom  they  truly 
respected.  It  is  not  so  much  of  an  event  now  for  a  noto- 
rious sinner  to  be  converted  in  Water  Street.  The  wonders 
of  God's  grace  have  been  greatly  multiplied  down  there 
within  the  last  few  years. 

But  before  this  came  about  I  had  a  long  and  trying  pro- 
bation. I  found  work  in  the  Ferry  Company.  There  I 
was  tempted,  and  drank  again.  My  good  friend  the  mis- 
sionary had  left  the  city,  the  meetings  were  given  up, 


32  Saved  from  Suicide. 

and  I  felt  lonely  and  sad.  I  had  not  then  joined  any 
church. 

Maria  was  out  of  the  city,  and  I  felt  I  must  go  and  see 
her.  I  took  Sunday  for  the  visit,  though  conscience  told 
me  I  was  doing  wrong.  It  was  a  cold,  snowy  day.  I  went 
in  the  stage,  and  when  we  reached  the  half-way  house  all 
the  passengers  got  out  and  drank.  They  looked  at  me  as 
they  were  taking  their  hot  whiskey,  seemingly  with  pity,  as 
though  I  couldn't  afford  to  buy.  My  pride  was  touched. 
I  went  up  to  the  bar  and  asked  for  sarsaparilla.  The  man 
handed  me  a  gin-bottle  and  glass.  There  was  an  inward 
conflict,  and  I  grieved  the  Spirit. 

Coming  back  from  my  visit,  I  lost  the  stage,  and  had  to 
put  in  at  a  hotel.  There  the  devil  made  me  drink  again. 
I  could  only  think  of  the  house  "  empty,  swept  and  gar- 
nished," where  the  unclean  spirit  had  dwelt.  "  Then  gocth 
he,  and  taketh  with  himself  seven  other  spirits  more  wicked 
than  himself,  and  they  enter  in  and  dwell  there ;  and  the 
last  state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first."  The  un- 
clean spirit  had  come  back  into  my  heart  with  his  miserable 
company,  and  I  was  in  a  sad  plight. 

I  went  out  of  the  hotel  and  went  straight  to  a  church 
which  was  open.  I  sat  down,  and  though  I  was  drunk,  I 
seemed  to  know  what  was  going  on.  I  was  very  angry 
with  myself,  and  cursed  God.  I  said,  "  I'll  never  go  back 
to  Water  Street,  to  disgrace  God  and  the  good  people 
there."  I  made  up  my  mind  I  would  kill  myself. 

I  went  out  from  the  church  and  took  the  cars  for  home. 
What  a  day  I  had  spent !  My  brain  was  on  fire.  My  heart 
was  cast  down.  My  conscience  was  sore.  Yes,  I  thought 
again,  "  I  will  kill  myself."  I  made  up  my  mind  to  let  my- 
self down  from  the  platform  and  let  the  cars  go  over  me. 


Joining  the  Church.  33 

But  the  conductor  was  there  and  pushed  me  in.  While  I 
was  watching  my  opportunity  the  Holy  Spirit  came  to  me, 
and  my  heart  was  softened.  The  next  night  I  went  to  a 
meeting,  confessed  my  sin,  and  asked  Christians  to  pray  for 
me,  and  I  prayed  myself  that  God  would  forgive  me. 

I  fell  once  after  that,  but  God  lifted  me  up  again. 

The  Sunday  after  this  last  slip  I  went  into  the  Howard 
Mission,  while  the  Sunday-school  children  were  singing.  I 
sat  down  on  a  side  seat,  and  then  I  saw  on  the  platform 
the  gentleman  mentioned  in  the  next  chapter  who  had  pre- 
viously been  introduced  to  me  by  the  missionary,  and  had 
spoken  kind  and  encouraging  words  to  me.  He  looked  at 
me  and  recognized  me  with  a  friendly  smile  and  nod.  I 
felt  ashamed  to  look  him  in  the  face.  Just  before  the 
meeting  closed  I  got  up  and  slipped  out  of  the  door  for 
fear  he  would  come  and  speak  to  me.  I  did  not  want  him 
to  know  that  I  had  been  going  wrong.  But  he  was  too 
quick  for  me.  He  caught  me  in  the  passage  outside  the 
chapel-door  before  I  could  get  down,  the  steps.  He  held 
out  his  hand,  and,  seeing  my  downcast  looks,  said,  "  What 
is  the  matter,  Jerry?"  I  held  back  my  hand  and  said,  "  I 
am  not  fit  for  you  to  speak  to  me."  He  said  "Why, 
what  is  the  trouble  ;  tell  me  all  about  it  ?"  I  then  said  "  I 
have  been  in  hell  for  three  days,"  and  I  told  him  what  had 
happened.  He  gave  me  a  warm  squeeze  of  the  hand,  and 
then,  putting  both  his  hands  on  my  shoulders  and  looking 
me  straight  in  the  eye,  with  his  own  moist  with  sympathy, 
he  said,  "  Don't  give  it  up,  Jerry;  try  again,  and  keep  trying, 
and  hold  on  to  Jesus."  His  words  and  look  and  hearty 
grip  strengthened  and  encouraged  me  wonderfully. 

All  this  time  I  had  kept  up  the  use  of  tobacco,  and  that 
created  a  thirst  in  me.  And  I  didn't  belong  to  any  church, 
3 


34  Sunday  Work  Refused. 

and  so  had  no  Christian  influence  to  hold  me.  But  soon 
after  that  I  joined  a  Methodist  Church  on  probation,  and 
that  strengthened  me. 

I  had  another  trial.  I  was  required  to  work  on  Sunday. 
I  told  my  employer  I  was  not  only  reformed,  but  trying  to 
lead  a  Christian  life. 

"  Jerry,"  said  he,  "  you  are  no  better  than  I.  I  am  a 
Christian  man,  but  I  have  to  work  on  Sunday,  and  you 
must  too.  I  want  you  to  come  to-morrow  to  work." 

But  I  felt  it  was  wrong,  and  did  not  go.  On  Monday 
morning  I  was  discharged.  I  felt  badly,  for  he  was  a 
church-member,  and  I  a  poor  weak  beginner  in  the  Chris- 
tian life. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  my  boss,  trying  to  console  me ; 
"  y°u  g°  to  work  and  I  guess  it  will  be  all  right." 

"  No,  I  won't,"  said  I ;  "  I  will  trust  God." 

But  I  would  not  leave  until  I  had  seen  my  employer.  I 
found  him  leaning  over  the  side  of  the  ferryboat.  I  tapped 
him  on  the  shoulder. 

"Captain  C.,"  said  I,  "  have  you  discharged  me  for  wish- 
ing to  keep  the  Sabbath  ?" 

He  made  no  answer,  but  I  knew  he  had  heard  me.  I 
tapped  him  on  the  shoulder  again. 

"Captain  C.,  have  you  discharged  me  for  trying  to  do 
right  ?" 

"Jerry,"  said  he,  "you  haven't  accommodated  me,  and  I 
can't  accommodate  you." 

"  Good-morning,"  said  I,  and  walked  away. 

After  I  began  to  try  to  live  right,  I  went  on  for  some 
time  without  work;  then  my  friend  the  missionary  came 
back,  and  introduced  me  to  Mr.  H.,  a  rich  gentleman  in  the 
city.  Mr.  II .  shook  hands  with  me,  and  told  me  to  keep 


A  True  Friend.  35 

on  doing  right,  to  trust  God,  and  when  I  was  in  want  to 
come  down  to  his  office  and  see  him  ;  and  he  gave  me  his 
number.  The  shake  of  his  hand  and  his  encouraging  words 
built  me  up.  I  resolved  that  I  would  never  go  to  him  for 
money,  but  his  kindness  put  new  life  into  me;  and  I  often 
went  to  him  after  that  for  encouragement  and  advice.  No 
matter  how  busy  he  was,  he  always  had  a  kind  word  for 
me,  and  would  often  excuse  himself  from  his  big  friends  to 
talk  with  me. 


36  A  Full  Surrender. 


CHAPTER  III. 

JERRY  BECOMES  A  MISSIONARY. 

"  Chosen,  not  for  good  in  me, 
Wakened  up  from  wrath  to  flee, 
Hidden  in  the  Saviour's  side 
By  thy  Spirit  sanctified; 
Teach  me  here  on  earth  to  show 
By  my  love,  how  much  I  owe!" 

SOON  after  this  I  got  a  job  of  work,  was  led  into  scenes  of 
temptation,  and  fell  again.  But  this  was  the  last  time.  I 
resolved  to  give  up  tobacco,  went  into  a  Christian  family 
who  found  employment  for  me,  and  I  gave  myself  wholly 
to  God. 

And  here  let  me  say  a  word  about  tobacco.  I  consider  it 
a  great  stumbling-block  in  any  Christian's  life  ;  but  when  a 
man  has  had  an  appetite  for  liquor  and  is  trying  to  keep 
from  drinking,  the  use  of  tobacco  is  positively  fatal.  It  will 
surely  bring  him  back  to  his  cups.  If  I  had  given  it  up 
when  I  gave  up  rum,  I  believe  I  should  have  had  none  of 
those  fearful  falls  which  I  have  described.  I  was  led  at  last, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  to  do  the  clean  thing — to  give  up 
every  sinful  habit,  and  from  that  time  Jesus  has  kept  me. 

After  a  time  my  work  ceased,  but  the  money  I  had  saved 
lasted  me  some  time.  When  I  got  to  the  last  five  dollars, 
I  went  into  my  room  and  prayed  most  earnestly  for  work, 
and  before  I  came  out  I  felt  the  assurance  that  my  prayer 


A  Happy  Vision.  37 

was  answered.  In  a  few  days  a  situation  was  offered  me 
in  the  custom-house  for  four  dollars  a  day.  Bur  there  I 
preached  Jesus  too  much,  and  was  soon  turned  away. 

Then  I  got  steady  employment  in  another  place,  where 
also  I  testified  for  Jesus.  I  had  been  there  only  a  little 
while  before  a  companion  began  to  swear.  I  reprove^ 
him. 

"  We  can  get  along  without  swearing,"  said  I. 

"  What  !"  said  he,  "  are  you  a  churchman  ?" 

"  No,  I  am  a  Christian,  or  trying  to  be  one,"  I  replied. 

So  I  was  spotted  among  the  workmen,  and  pointed  out 
as  one  of  the  "  hypocrites."  One  man,  a  German,  I  was 
permitted  to  lead  to  Christ. 

One  day  I  had  a  sort  of  trance  or  vision.  I  was  singing 
at  my  work,  and  my  mind  became  absorbed,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  I  was  working  for  the  Lord  down  in  the  Fourth  Ward. 
I  had  a  house,  and  people  were  coming  in.  There  was  a 
bath,  and  as  they  came  in  I  washed  and  cleansed  them  out- 
side, and  the  Lord  cleansed  them  inside.  They  came  at 
the  first  by  small  numbers,  then  by  hundreds,  and  after- 
wards by  thousands. 

Before  I  came  out  of  this  vision  I  was  in  tears.  Then 
something  said  to  me,  "  Would  you  do  that  for  the  Lord  if 
he  should  call  you?  Would  you  do  it  for  Jesus'  sake?" 
And  I  answered,  "  Yes,  Lord,  open  the  way,  and  I  will  go." 
I  felt  that  I  could  go  down  there  where  I  had  always  lived. 
I  was  used  to  the  filth  and  misery,  the  drunkenness  and 
Romanism,  and  I  wasn't  afraid  of  them.  I  felt  sure  I 
should  be  called  to  work  'for  Jesus  down  there. 

A  little  while  after  that  my  health  gave  way,  and  I  took 
a  vacation.  I  went  with  my  wife  to  Sea  Cliff,  to  attend  the 
camp-meeting.  All  the  time  the  thought  of  this  work  was 


38  The  Way  Opened. 

pressing  upon  me,  and  I  prayed  God  to  open  the  way  for 
me  to  talk  to  the  Christian  people  there  about  it.  He  gave 
me  the  opportunity.  From  there  I  went  to  Sing-Sing 
camp-ground,  and  presented  it,  and  afterwards  to  Ocean 
Grove.  Many  were  interested  in  the  proposed  work,  and 
gave  me  larger  or  smaller  sums  to  help  it  along,  until  I  held 
in  trust  four  hundred  and  fifty  dollars. 

Then  the  Lord  opened  the  way  for  me  to  begin  the  work 
in  a  small  way  at  316  Water  Street,  next  door  to  where 
John  Allen's  dance-house  used  to  be,  and  where  the  meet- 
ings had  been  held  in  which  I  had  first  testified  for  Jesus 
after  I  had  been  brought  back  to  him  in  the  way  I  have  re- 
lated. The  house  had  previously  been  a  notorious  dance- 
house  of  the  worst  sort.  At  the  time  of  the  John  Allen  ex- 
citement as  it  was  called,  of  which  I  have  already  spoken, 
the  lease  of  the  house  had  been  bought  by  my  friend  Mr. 
H. ;  the  dance-house  people  had  been  turned  out  with  all 
their  ungodly  traps,  and  the  building  opened  for  a  mis- 
sion. Afterwards  when  the  lease  had  run  out  and  the 
owner  wouldn't  renew  it,  Mr.  H.  bought  the  property  so 
that  it  might  be  kept  for  a  mission.  There  were  a  good 
many  around  there  who  would  have  been  glad  to  see  it 
turned  into  a  devil's  mission  again  ;  but  they  were  disap- 
pointed. 

At  the  time  when  the  Lord  put  it  into  my  heart  to  begin 
a  mission,  the  house  was  occupied  as  a  kind  of  side-station 
by  theGity  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  to  whom  Mr.  H.  had 
given  the  use  of  it. 

I  went  to  him  one  Sunday  at  the  Howard  Mission  and 
told  him  about  what  I  wanted  to  do,  and  about  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  that  I  had  raised.  He  seemed  to 
discourage  me  a  little  at  first.  He  said,  "Jerry,  if  you  start  a 


The  Helping  Hand  for  Men.  39 

mission  you  will  have  to  give  your  time  to  it ;  you  have  got 
a  good  situation  and  good  wages,  where  you  are  respected 
and  trusted,  which  you  will  have  to  give  up.  Don't  you 
think  you  can  serve  God-and  do  good  and  earn  your  bread 
and  butter  at  the  same  time  right  where  you  are  ?"  I 
thought  then,  and  I  knew  afterwards,  that  he  was  trying 
me  to  see  how  much  I  was  in  earnest.  I  told  him  my  heart 
was  set  on  working  for  the  salvation  of  such  as  I  used  to 
be ;  that  I  was  sure  the  Lord  had  put  me  up  to  it,  and  that 
I  was  willing  to  trust  Him.  He  looked  at  me  a  minute,  and 
then,  putting  his  hand  on  my  shoulder,  and  smiling  as  if 
convinced,  he  said,  "  Well,  Jerry,  there  is  the  old  house  in 
Water  Street  ;  it  belongs  to  me  ;  you  may  have  the  use  of 
that.  I  will  speak  to  the  City  Mission  people  and  get  them 
to  give  it  up  ;  go  ahead,  and  God  bless  you.  I  will  help  you 
all  I  can." 

The  City  Mission  and  Tract  Society,  at  his  suggestion, 
cheerfully  consented  to  leave  the  house  at  our  disposal. 
We  went  down  there  in  October,  1872,  laid  out  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  cleaning  and  repairing  the 
house,  and  opened  the  place  as  a  resort  for  the  forlorn  way- 
farers, sailors,  and  others  who  frequented  the  locality.  We 
put  up  a  sign,  "  Helping  Hand  for  Men,"  which  has  been  the 
guide-board  to  bring  many  a  poor  soul  to  the  foot  of  the 
cross. 

No  one  need  suppose  that  I  could  undertake  and  go  on 
in  such  a  work  without  opposition.  My  relatives,  and  my 
wife's  also,  were  Roman  Catholics,  and  were  greatly  dis- 
pleased with  us.  One  of  my  sisters  came  to  talk  with  me. 
I  tried  to  convince  her  of  the  truth  from  the  Scriptures.  I 
told  her  there  was  no  other  name  given  under  heaven 
whereby  men  can  be  saved  but  the  name  of  Jesus.  I  could 


40  Debating  with  a  Priest. 

not  convince  her,  nor  she  me,  so  she  went  to  one  of  the 
priests  about  it. 

41 1  am  a  converted  Protestant,"  said  he,  "  and  know  both 
sides,  and  I  will  soon  fix  him." 

My  sister  wanted  me  to  go  with  her  to  see  him.  I  had 
no  desire  to  go  for  the  sake  of  argument,  but  for  her  sake 
I  said  I  would,  to  show  her  too  that  I  was  not  afraid.  She 
couldn't  read,  and  didn't  believe  what  I  had  told  her  of  the 
Bible.  "  But,"  said  I,  "  the  priest  is  a  learned  man,  and  he 
will  know  that  I  speak  the  truth."  My  wife  went  with  us, 
and  a  niece  wfio  had  been  brought  up  in  a  convent,  and  was 
very  bigoted  and  bitter  against  the  Protestants. 

"  You  have  come  here  to  be  convinced  of  your  errors," 
said  the  priest,  as  we  seated  ourselves  in  his  room. 

"  I  did,"  said  I,  "  if  you  can  convince  me  from  the  Bible. 
Excuse  me  one  moment,  father ;  do  you  believe^  it  to  be  an 
inspired  book?" 

"  Certainly." 

"  Do  you  believe  this  of  the  Protestant  Bible?" 

"Certainly;  there  is  but  little  difference." 

"  I  am  glad  you  feel  so,  to  start  with,"  I  said. 

"You  will  allow  the  Catholic  Church  to  be  the  first,"  he 
said  to  me. 

"  Yes,  if  you  leave  the  Roman  out,"  I  answered.  But  he 
took  no  notice  of  that. 

"  Christ  said,"  he  went  on,  "  that  the  gates  of  hell  should 
not  prevail  against  his  Church.  Now  if  the  gates  of  hell 
have  prevailed,  Christ  was  a  liar." 

That  sounded  hard,  and  I  felt  that  my  Master  was  in- 
sulted, but  I  kept  quiet. 

"  I  want  to  show  you,"  he  said,  "  that  the  gates  of  hell 
have  not  prevailed.  The  first  Church  was  made  up  of  the 


Meeting  Error  with  Truth.  41 

twelve  apostles.  One  of  these  was  a  traitor ;  but  the  gates 
didn't  prevail  then,  and  haven't  since.  Have  you  ever  read 
the  history  of  Rome?  Well,  they  were  fearfully  wicked  in 
Luther's  time.  They  themselves  acknowledged  that  the 
Church  was  corrupt  and  needed  reformation.  But  still  the 
Church  did  not  go  down.  Do  you  believe  Luther  was  a 
good  man  ?  He  could  not  have  been,  for  no  man  is  good 
who  breaks  his  vows." 

"  A  bad  vow  is  better  broken  than  kept,"  I  said ;  but  he 
did  not  reply  to  that. 

"  Do  you  believe  in  the  Mass?"  he  asked. 

"  No,  I  never  read  of  the  Mass  or  Confession  in  the 
Bible.  It  is  a  most  degrading  thing  to  bow  down  before 
a  fellow-man  to  worship  him." 

"  You  are  not  required  to  do  that.  We  take  the  sins  on 
us,  and  stand  between  you  and  God." 

"Then  you  stand  in  the  place  of  Christ.  Now  God  says, 
'  Go  into  your  closet,  and  pray  in  secret,  and  he  will  re- 
ward openly.'  Isn't  prayer  the  same  thing  with  confes- 
sion?" 

He  owned  that  it  was,  but  said,  "  Does  not  James  say, 
'Confess  your  faults  one  to  another'?" 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  that  is  just  what  we  do  in  our  prayer- 
meetings.  When  we  have  been  led  into  sin  we  say  so,  and 
repent  and  come  to  Jesus,  and  testify  of  his  willingness  to 
receive  us." 

"  Well,  that's  right." 

"  And  now,"  said  I,  "  while  we  are  on  this  point,  you 
have  as  good  a  right  to  confess  to  me  as  I  have  to  confess 
to  you.  '  Confess  to  one  another,'  the  Bible  says.  Then 
what  do  you  do  with  these  verses :  '  There  is  none  other 
name  given  under  heaven  among  men  whereby  we  can  be 


4*  Faithful  and  Fearless.  • 

saved,'  and, '  There  is  one  mediator  between  God  and  man. 
the  man  Christ  Jesus'?  You  presume  to  be  the  mediator. 
You  take  my  sister's  sins,  for  instance,  on  yourself,  you  say, 
and  bear  them  to  God." 

Then  I  told  him  my  experience.  "  I  have  been  a  drunk- 
ard and  a  thief,  one  of  the  wickedest  men  that  ever  lived. 
I  have  been  in  State-prison,  and  yet  this  Jesus,  who  is 
despised  in  your  Church,  has  picked  me  up  out  of  the  gutter, 
has  washed  and  cleansed  and  saved  me.  But  you  say  all 
the  Protestants  will  be  damned." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  he,  "  no ;  I  believe  that  every  good  Prot- 
estant will  go  to  heaven;  but  the  turn-coats — they  will 
surely  be  lost." 

"  My  sister  can  tell  you  what  a  bad  man  I  was,  and  what 
has  been  done  for  me.  According  to  your  theory,  this  is 
just  to  fit  me  for  hell,  and  it  must  be  the  work  of  Satan." 

"  Satan  often  becomes  an  angel  of  light." 

"Then  he  certainly  has  become  a  friend  to  me.  But  no, 
that  is  not  so ;  I  am  not  a  slave  of  Satan,  I  am  a  free  man. 
Jesus  has  set  me  free,  as  the  Bible  says  he  will  do  for  every 
one  that  believes  in  him." 

"  We  don't  follow  the  Bible." 

•"  What  do  you  follow  ?" 

"The  traditions  of  the  Church." 

"  I  didn't  come  here  to  argue,  Father  G.,  but  to  convince 
my  sister  of  the  truth.  I  am  not  afraid  of  the  priest.  The 
Lord  has  opened  my  eyes.  Your  people  are  afraid  of  you. 
You  will  lie  to  benefit  the  Church;  but  God  has  said,  'All 
liars  shall  have  their  part  in  the  lake  that  burneth  with  fire 
and  brimstone.' " 

I  talked  fearlessly  and  faithfully  to  him.  My  heart  was 
full  of  peace  and  joy,  and  I  believe  the  Lord  that  night  ful- 


MRS.  MARIA  McAULEY 


Mrs.  McAuleys  Conversion.  43 

filled  his  word,  and  made  the  weak  and  foolish  things  to 
confound  the  wise. 

I  feel  that  a  word  about  my  wife,  and  the  way  in  which 
she  was  led  to  Christ,  will  be  appropriate  here.  She  too 
was  the  fruit  of  Water  Street  mission-work,  and  I  am  sure 
that  my  v/ork  at  the  Helping  Hand  would  not  be  half  so 
successful  as  it  is  without  her.  She  is  truly  a  helpmeet  from 
the  Lord  to  me. 

She  was,  like  myself,  a  Romanist,  brought  up  in  supersti- 
tion and  bigotry.  When  she  grew  up  she  was  obliged,  like 
thousands  of  others,  to  earn  her  own  living,  and  for  that 
purpose  came  to  the  city.  Here  she  was  exposed  to  temp- 
tation on  every  side.  She  went  into  worldly  pleasures,  as 
young  people  are  apt  to  do,  and  before  long  acquired  a  love 
for  drink.  About  the  time  of  my  conversion  she  was 
invited  into  the  John  Allen  Mission.  She  attended  the 
meetings,  but  the  gospel  invitations  she  heard  did  not  seem 
to  do  her  any  good.  They  fell  upon  her  ear,  but  that  was 
all.  They  sounded  to  her,  as  she  often  says,  like  an  un- 
known tongue.  And  yet  they  were  not  altogether  new,  for 
they  called  up^to  her  memory  things  she  had  heard  in  her 
childhood,  when  she  had  been  a  member  of  a  Protestant 
Sunday-school.  And  here,  I  think,  is  encouragement  for 
Christian  people  to  bring  in  such  children  into  their  Mission 
Sunday-schools,  even  if  they  do  belong  to  another  faith. 

The  mission-workers  labored  with  Maria  very  kindly  and 
faithfully,  but  still  she  was  not  converted.  She  did,  how- 
ever, promise  to  give  up  drinking,  and  after  a  while  was  per- 
suaded to  leave  the  city,  and  to  take  a  situation  in  a  Chris- 
tian family  in  the  country.  Her  friends  hoped  that  in  this 
way,  by  leaving  the  places  of  temptation,  and  living  among 
good  people,  she  would  be  brought  to  choose  the  right  way. 


44  Becomes  a  Bible  Reader. 

Here  she  was  taught  in  religious  things,  attended  family 
worship,  and  read  the  Bible,  but  still  her  heart  was  not 
reached. 

After  several  months  she  left  this  home  for  another. 
This  too  was  a  Christian  family,  and  she  had  the  same  privi- 
leges, and  here  it  was  that  suddenly  the  truths  of  the  gospel 
were  revealed  to  her.  They  came  to  her,  just  as  knowledge 
seems  to  open  to  a  little  child,  we  don't  know  how,  only  we 
find,  when  we  are  not  looking  for  it,  that  the  child  knows. 
Her  blind  eyes  in  an  unexpected  moment  were  touched, 
and  she  saw;  her  deaf  ears  were  unstopped,  and  she  heard. 
The  way  of  salvation  opened  before  her,  and  the  words  she 
had  so  often  heard,  and  which  had  slipped  off  from  her  like 
water  from  a  rock,  were  all  at  once  full  of  life  and  power. 
They  took  hold  of  her  conscience  and  heart ;  the  lessons  of 
her  childhood  came  to  her  with  a  meaning  they  had  never 
had,  and  she  believed  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  was 
saved. 

When  Jesus  was  revealed  to  her  she  received  him  gladly, 
and  gave  herself  wholly  to  him.  It  was  no  half-way  work 
with  her.  Her  faith  was  childlike,  her  love  simple  and  ear- 
nest. She  at  once  received  power  to  lift  her  out  of  the 
bondage  of  sinful  appetite,  and  her  soul  was  possessed  with 
a  love  for  sinners,  and  a  desire  to  lead  others  to  the  same 
precious  Saviour  she  had  found.  She  could  not  rest  day  or 
night  for  the  longing  she  had  to  tell  the  glad  story  of  her 
salvation. 

She  came  back  to  the  city  and  commenced  missionary 
work,  in  the  employ  of  some  Christian  ladies,  as  a  Bible- 
reader  in  the  Fourth  Ward.  She  found  easy  access  to  tene- 
ment-houses, liquor-saloons,  and  dens  of  infamy,  and  in  every 
place  testified  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  and  besought  sinners 


Commencing  Mission  Work.  45 

to  behold  the  Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world.  Many  listened,  forsook  their  evil  ways,  and 
came  to  Jesus,  who  are  living  witnesses  for  the  Lord  to- 
day. 

I  bless  God  that  He  permitted  us  to  be  united,  and  to 
work  together  in  the  Helping  Hand ;  and  I  hope  God  will 
let  us  live  a  great  while  to  labor  for  souls.  We  find  it  sweet 
to  work  for  him,  and  though  we  know  we  are  in  ourselves 
very  weak  and  helpless,  and  prone  to  mistakes,  yet  we  trust 
in  the  Lord,  and  feel  that  his  precious  blood  is  applied 
every  moment  to  cleanse  and  save  us.  '  Glory  be  to 
Jesus ! 

By  the  kindness  of  some  Christian  friends  in  the  city,  a 
dinner  was  provided  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  soon  after  we 
took  possession  of  the  Mission-house.  Bountiful  provision 
was  made,  and  the  needy  and  outcast  were  freely  invited  to 
come  in.  The  day  closed  with  a  religious  service,  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  was  poured  upon  the  assembled  company.  It 
was  a  time  long  to  be  remembered ;  and  under  its  solemn 
influence  the  Lord  put  it  into  our  hearts  to  appoint  a  simi- 
'ar  meeting  for  the  next  evening.  From  that  time  to  the 
present,  now  more  than  three  years,  the  humble  chapel  of 
cha  Helping  Hand  has  been  opened  and  lighted  every 
evening  for  a  gospel  service.  Hundreds  of  souls  have  been 
converted  to  God  in  this  hallowed  spot.  The  Lord  has 
truly  honored  the  place  and  the  work. 

The  meetings  are  led  by  Christians  of  various  denomina- 
tions in  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  and  it  is  wonderful  how 
the  workers  have  been  blest  of  God  in  their  earnest  effort 
to  do  good  to  others.  I  am  on  the  spot  all  the  time  with 
my  wife,  and  our  work  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the 


46  Praying  for  a  New  Building. 

evening  service.  Multitudes  of  poor  sinful  ones  come  in 
during  the  day  for  help  and  counsel.  We  point  them  to 
Jesus,  the  great  Physician  and  Helper  of  body  and  soul,  and 
many  a  one  has  it  been  our  pleasure  to  lead  to  the  fountain 
opened  for  sin  and  uncleanness. 

Hut  my  vision  is  not  yet  fully  realized.  The  house  of 
the  Lord,  with  the  bath,  the  chapel,  and  all  the  furnishings 
which  I  saw,  has  not  yet  been  given.  It  is  the  dearest 
hope  of  my  life  to  see  it.  I  pray  daily  that  the  Lord  will 
provide  the  means  to  put  up  just  such  a  building,  for  it  is 
needed  in  this  Fourth  Ward,  as  a  refuge  and  safe  harbor  for 
the  poor  souls. tossed  up  and  down  on  the  billows  of  sin 
and  misery.  And  I  have  faith  to  believe  that  in  God's  own 
good  time  it  will  be  accomplished.* 

Meanwhile  we  are  watching  for  souls,  humbly  trusting  in 
the  grace  of  God  and  the  gift  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  which 
alone  can  draw  them  out  of  the  bondage  of  Satan  into  the 
liberty  of  children  of  God. 

This  short  sketch  of  my  life  I  now  lay  as  an  offering  on 
God's  altar.  I  have  told  enough  of  my  sin  to  magnify  the 
riches  of  divine  grace  which  reached  out  the  hand  of  love 
and  gently  drew  me  in  from  the  depths  of  iniquity  into  his 
loving  favor.  My  prayer  is,  that  the  story  of  what  Jesus 


*  In  the  year  1876  the  old  building  at  316  Water  Street  in  which  Jerry 
commenced  his  work  was  torn  down,  and  a  substantial  three-story  brick 
building  was  erected  for  the  use  of  the  Mission  on  the  same  spot;  thus 
realizing  in  great  measure  his  vision,  and  the  hopes  and  aspirations  to  which 
it  had  given  birth.  About  this  time  the  Mission  was  incorporated  under  the 
title  of  The  McAuley  Water  Street  Mission,  and  became  the  owner  of  the 
property  free  from  debt.  Its  work  still  goes  on,  constantly  illustrating  the 
power  of  Jesus  to  save,  perpetuating  the  memory  of  its  founder,  and  hon- 
oring the  Redeemer  whom  he  loved  and  served. 


Praying  for  a  New  Building.  47 

has  done  for  me  may  encourage  other  sinners  to  trust  in 
him  for  the  same  glorious,  free  salvation. 

NOTE. — We  have  now  come  to  the  end  of  the  little  work  "  Transformed," 
published  by  Jerry.  He  intended  writing  a  larger  volume  during  the  winter 
of  1884-85,  and  would  no  doubt  have  done  so  had  not  death  ended  his 
earthly  labors.  Happily  some  further  accounts  of  his  work  were  dictated 
by  Jerry  from  time  to  time  before  his  death  and  these  have  furnished  the 
material  for  many  of  the  succeeding  pages. 


48  A  Thanksgiving  Service. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

TRIALS  AND  TRIUMPHS. 

"  When  we  cannot  see  our  way, 
We  should  trust  and  still  obey; 
He  who  bids  us  forward  go, 
Will  instruct  the  way  to  know." 

In  the  preceding  chapter  brief  reference  was  made  to  the 
origin  of  the  Water  Street  Mission  meetings.  Speaking 
later  to  a  friend  of  the  Thanksgiving  there  mentioned, 
Jerry  thus  described  the  memorable  occasion  : 

"  On  Thanksgiving  we  gave  a  good  dinner  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  poor  people  ;  and  afterwards  we  had  a  kind  of  a 
family  prayer-meeting,  Brother  Rue  proposing  to  give  thanks 
for  the  grand  day  we  had  experienced.  We  got  together  for 
prayer  and  sinking,  and  while  this  was  going  on  the  outside 
people  flocked  in  and  crowded  the  house* 

"  Such  a  sight  I  never  saw :  sinners  crying,  '  God  have 
mercy  on  me ! '  '  Lord  help  me ! '  and  while  I  was  on  my 
knees  the  Lord  said,  'You  had  better  open  the  door  every 
evening/  And  so  I  did ;  and  this  was  the  beginning  of 
the  grand  revival  since  carried  on  at  the  Water  Street  Mis- 
sion, commencing  in  such  a  humble  way,  and  yet  doing  such 
a  great  work  among  all  sorts  of  people — rich  and  poor,  high 
and  low." 

All  along  the  work  was  one  of  faith.  Feeding  many 
needy  persons  every  day,  even  with  the  simple  food  pro- 
vided, and  carrying  on  the  meetings  every  night,  was  not 


Living  by  Faith.  49 

accomplished  without  means.  But  Jerry  believed  that  the 
work  was  God's,  and  that  so  long  as  God  wished  him  to 
carry  it-on  the  money  would  be  forthcoming. 

So  the  testing  times  were  trusting  times,  and  days  of 
trial  were  days  of  happy  triumph  ;  for  God  greatly  honored 
the  humble  faith  of  these  two  earnest  ones.  Jerry  says: 

"  As  we  had  made  it  a  rule  to  neither  beg  nor  run  in  debt, 
our  finances  would  frequently  run  very  low,  and  we  found 
ourselves  more  than  once  with  very  little  in  the  treasury ; 
then  again  we  would  feel  rich  when  we  found  we  had  $10 
in  cash.  We  borrowed  no  trouble  about  finances,  but 
trusted  wholly  in  the  Lord." 

In  the  first  printed  report  we  find  many  incidents  serv- 
ing to  illustrate  the  spirit  in  which  the  work  was  carried 
on.  From  among  these  we  select  the  two  following: 

"  Before  the  cold  weather  set  in  the  workers  prayed 
earnestly  for  the  winter's  supply  of  coal.  Two  business 
men  were  talking  about  it  just  then  in  their  office  down- 
town. One  of  these  men  had  been  converted  but  a  few 
months  before  at  the  Mission,  and  felt  moved  to  send  in  a 
thank-offering  to  tht  Lord.  The  other  had  been  for  many 
months  a  devoted  worker  there.  Said  the  first,  '  Let  us 
join  and  send  them  coal  enough  to  last  the  winter  months.' 
The  thought  was  of  God,  before  whom  the  earnest  prayer 
had  just  gone  up.  It  was  done,  and  all  trouble  on  that 
score  was  settled. 

"  On  another  occasion  a  gas-bill  came  in,  and  there  was 
not  a  cent  in  the  treasury  ;  but  it  was  taken  to  the  Father, 
to  whom  belongs  the  silver  and  the  gold.  In  the  course  of 
the  day  a  letter  was  received  containing  just  the  amount  of 
the  bill,  and  the  car-fare  of  the  messenger  who  should  go 
to  pay  it." 
4 


50  An  Empty  Treasiirv. 

During  the  first  year  of  this  useful  work  26,261  meals 
were  furnished  to  hungry  men,  lodgings  were  given  to  5144, 
and  a  great  deal  of  clothing  was  supplied.  This  was  all 
done  without  any  accumulation  of  debt,  money  coming  to 
hand  as  it  was  needed. 

Of  two  instances  in  which  his  faith  was  tried,  but  was 
found  firm  and  proved  victorious,  Jerry  thus  speaks : 

'*  I  call  to  mind  one  instance,  and  relate  it  to  show  how 
we  were  led.  One  night  we  found  the  Mission  without  a 
cent,  and  forty  odd  tramps  to  feed  and  nothing  to  offer 
them.  It  was  a  time  to  test  my  views,  for  I  had  declared  I 
would  let  the  Lord  have  his  way,  and  whenever  he  ceased 
to  provide,  I  would  accept  it  as  an  evidence  that  he  did  not 
want  us  to  go  on,  and  as  he  supplied  our  necessities,  would 
consider  he  was  pleased  to  have  us  continue.  I  felt  for 
those  poor  hungry  men.  Some  of  them  had  probably  not 
tasted  a  bit  of  food  for  two  and  three  days ;  they  had  no 
money  to  help  themselves,  and  when  they  came  on  Satur- 
day night  we  usually  kept  them  over  Sunday,  but  on  this 
night  we  were  broke. 

"  We  proceeded  to  the  Mission-room  *nd  commenced  the 
services,  and  some  souls  were  saved.  'But  even  when  nine 
o'clock  had  come,  strange  to  say  no  one  had  handed  us  a 
penny.  As  the  meeting  drew  to  a  close  and  nothing  came, 
oh  how  dark  everything  looked  ;  my  faith  trembled.  I  could 
hardly  keep  from  crying  as  I  looked  into  the  hungry  faces 
of  my  poor  tramps  and  converts.  I  spoke  to  my  wife  about 
them,  and  she  replied  : 

"'The  Lord  will  provide;  you  see  if  he  don't!1 

"  I  closed  with  a  heavy  heart  and  dismissed  the  meeting, 
and  my  wife  took  her  position  at  the  door,  as  usual,  to 
shake  hands  with  the  folks  as  they  went  out.  A  lady 


Help  in  Time  of  Need.  "51 

passed  out  with  her  husband,  and  after  goingf  five  or  ten 
yards  suddenly  stopped,  and  coming  back  to  my  wife  said, 
'  Mrs.  McAuley,  we  keep  a  baker-shop  in  Cherry  Street, 
and  I  just  happened  to  think  you  had  better  send  up  and 
get  $5  worth  of  bread  ! '  There  was  God's  hand  in  answer 
to  prayer,  and  we  soon  had  enough  for  all  and  some  to 
spare. 

"Another  time  we  had  used  our  last  cent.  We  said  noth- 
ing about  it  in  the  meeting,  but  prayed  secretly  for  the 
dear  Lord  to  interpose  for  us.  Meeting  was  dismissed,  and 
shortly  after  the  people  began  to  leave  a  man  came  in  from 
the  street  and  handed  me  a  package.  I  opened  it,  and  to 
my  astonishment  found  $100  in  it.  The  sight  of  it  nearly 
took  my  breath  away.  I  looked  at  it  a  moment,  and  then 
at  the  poor  fellow  who  brought  it,  and  finally  said  to  him, 
'  Where  in  the  world  did  you  get  this  ? '  'A  man  gave  it  to 
me  just  outside,  and  told  me  to  hand  it  to  you,'  he  replied. 
'  Who  was  he  ? '  I  said,  as  I  turned  it  over  and  looked  at  it  on 
every  side  to  see  if  there  wasn't  something  wrong  about  it. 
'  I  don't  know,'  said  the  man,  who  now  seemed  as  much  sur- 
prised as  I  was.  -A  man  out  on  the  sidewalk  handed  it  to 
me,  and  said,  "  Here,  hand  that  to  Jerry  ;"  that's  all  I  know.' 
I  counted  it  again:  it  was  all  there — one  hundred  dollars! 
'  Whew  ! '  said  I,  we'll  never  be  poor  again  ! ' 

"  Thus  the  Lord  always  interfered,  but  generally  not  until 
we  were  actually  or  pretty  nearly  dead  broke  and  really 
needed  it,  proving  himself  a  '  present  help  in  time  of 
trouble.'  " 

The  financial  difficulties  of  the  work  were  by  no  means 
the  only  ones  to  be  surmounted. 

Jerry  says,  "  When  the  every-night  meetings  commenced, 
then  also  began  our  troubles,  for  the  devil  woke  up.  Crowds 


52  Some  of  the  Difficulties. 

of  the  lowest  people  used  to  come  to  the  door  to  disturb  the 
meetings,  throwing  brickbats  and  garbage,  and  anything  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on,  into  the  room.  The  police  gave 
us  no  protection  at  that  time,  although  I  saw  the  captain 
time  and  again,  but  to  no  purpose." 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  Jerry  should  have  had 
to  make  such  a  statement  in  reference  to  those  who  are 
paid  and  pledged  to  preserve  order  and  keep  the  low  and 
vicious  under  restraint.  We  would  gladly  suppress  that 
part  of  this  record  which  relates  to  the  police  and  their  ne- 
glect of  duty,  but  to  do  so  would  be  to  keep  out  of  sight 
some  of  the  severest  obstacles  with  which  our  brother  had 
to  contend.  It  is  only  fair  to  say,  however,  that  at  times 
during  the  history  of  the  work  the  officials  of  the  partic- 
ular precinct  in  which  Jerry  labored,  as  well  as  those  at 
head-quarters,  appreciated  him  and  the  work  he  was  doing, 
and  showed  an  earnest  desire  to  afford  all- the  protection  in 
their  power.  We  shall  give  in  Jerry's  own  words  some  of 
this  side  of  the  history  of  the  Water  Street  work.  Those 
who  knew  him  best  will  know  that  he  did  not  relate  such 
incidents  in  a  spirit  of  boastfulness,  or  to  show  his  own 
prowess.  They  were  drawn  from  him  as  illustrating  the 
nature  of  some  of  the  difficulties  which  he  had  to  encounter. 

"  During  the  early  history  of  the  Mission  there  were  two 
notorious  dens  directly  opposite  our  place,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  street.  These  were  inhabited  by  a  rabble  of  the 
lowest  order,  and  they  used  to  gather  together  and  yell  and 
make  all  sorts  of  unearthly  noises  to  disturb  the  meetings. 
We  found  out  one  day  to  our  great  satisfaction  that  some 
wealthy  men  had  purchased  the  property  where  these  dens 
stood,  and  that  they  were  to  be  torn  down  and  two  new 
houses  built  in  their  places.  We  congratulated  ourselves 


Unexpected  Troubles.  53 

that  this  was  a  good  thing  for  us,  and  a  cause  for  thanks- 
giving. How  little  we  knew  what  trouble  it  was  to  bring 
us  into,  even  before  the  houses  were  built !  Many  of  the 
workmen  employed  on  them  were  a  hard  lot  of  drinking, 
boisterous  fellows.  Every  one  that  passed  along  the  street 
was  at  their  mercy,  and  their  language  was  filthy  and 
brutal  beyond  all  description. 

"  A  young,  well-dressed  man  was  passing  one  day,  and 
one  of  them  turned  the  hose  on  him  and  flooded  him  with 
water.  Of  course  he  resented  the  insult,  and  hard  words 
began  to  fly  back  and  forth.  A  crowd  soon  gathered,  and 
after  considerable  talk  the  laborer  threatened  to  knock  out 
the  young  fellow's  brains  with  a  pickaxe,  and  the  latter 
dared  him  to  do  it.  I  was  standing  in  the  door  of  the 
Mission  looking  quietly  on,  when,  as  the  workman  raised 
himself,  as  likely  as  not  to  split  the  young  man's  head  open, 
his  eye  caught  sight  of  me.  Whether  he  thought  I  was  in 
the  way  of  his  taking  vengeance  on  the  stranger,  or  whether 
he  was  loaded  up  with  bitterness  on  account  of  what  he 
had  heard  about  the  Mission,  I  do  not  know,  but  in  a  mo- 
ment he  turned  all  his  venom  upon  me.  '  What  are  you 
looking  at,  you  dirty  turncoat,  you  miserable  hypocrite, 
you  ?  '  he  yelled,  and  followed  with  a  torrent  of  foul  words. 
I  was  astonished,  and  said  to  him,  '  See  here,  you  must 
remember  we  are  not  all  of  us  bad  here,  and  if  you  don't 
shut  up  that  foul  mouth  of  yours,  I'll  take  you  to  the 
station-house.'  '  Come  over  here,  you,'  he  yelled  in  fury, 
adding  a  lot  more  of  his  vile  words.  Then  I  walked  over 
and  caught  hold  of  him  by  the  collar.  I  had  a  deputy- 
sheriff's  badge,  and  had  the  right  to  make  arrests.  As  I 
grabbed  him  his  '  pal '  slipped  up  behind  me,  and  swing- 
ing his  great  heavy  shovel  over  his  shoulder,  was  about 


54  Shameful  Persecution. 

to  hit  me.  But  I  gave  the  fellow  I  had  hold  of  a  shove,  and 
landed  him  into  a  great  pile  of  loose  sand  brought  there 
for  building  purposes,  and  while  he  was  scrambling  and 
floundering  to  get  out  I  piled  the  other  fel!6w  on  top  of 
him.  It  was  enough  to  make  any  one  laugh  to  see  those 
fellows  trying  to  get  out  of  the  soft  sand,  and  afraid  all 
the  time  I  was  going  for  them  again.  Seeing  a  police- 
man coming  I  beckoned  to  him,  and  ordered  him  to  arrest 
the  scoundrel  who  began  the  row.  He  was  about  to  do  so 
when  another  policeman  came  running  up.  He  took  in 
the  situation,  and  whispered  something  in  the  first  one's  ear. 
It  was  only  a  word,  but  it  acted  like  magic.  The  M.  P 
dropped  his  prisoner,  and  without  a  word  grabbed  me  by  the 
collar  and  arrested  me  as  the  offender.  Of  course  I  made 
no  objection  to  going  with  him,  although  I  knew  he  had  no 
business  to  arrest  a  man  wearing  a  badge  and  in  the  per- 
formance of  his  duty. 

"  How  delighted  the  rabble  were ;  and  the  policemen,  enter- 
ing into  their  spirit,  gave  them  a  good  chance  to  gloat  over 
their  seeming  victory,  by  walking  me  as  slowly  as  possible 
down  that  wicked  street  to  show  me  up.  '  There  he  goes,' 
yelled  one.  '  See  the  dirty  turncoat ! '  '  Bad  luck  to  the 
likes  of  ye ! '  screamed  another,  and  so  on,  with  oaths, 
curses,  and  blasphemies,  devoting  me  to  any  place  but 
heaven,  and  wishing  me  anything  but  blessings.  We 
reached  the  station-house,  and  the  joy  of  the  officials  over 
catching  such  a  troublesome  fish  was  plain  enough. 

"  One  of  the  workmen  made  the  complaint  that  I  struck 
the  other  on  the  nose  and  knocked  him  down.  '  Is  that 
so  ?  '  said  the  sergeant ;  '  did  he  hit  you  ? — show  me  the 
marks.'  '  Him  lave  any  marks  on  me  !  I'd  knock  his  brains 
out,'  was  the  reply.  '  Arrah,  go  lang  wid  ye !  Faith  he 


Threatening  the  Mission.  55 

did,'  insisted  the  complainant ;  and  they  were  near  coming 
to  blows  between  themselves,  and  made  the  place  ring  with 
their  oaths  and  hard  words.  They  contradicted  each  other 
so  that  the  officials  began  to  look  blue  as  the  hopes  of 
making  out  a  case  against  me  died  away.  The  foreman  of 
the  building  now  interfered  and  said,  '  I  saw  the  whole 
thing.  My  men  have  been  drinking  a  little  too  much  ; ' 
and  then  he  described  the  affair  as  it  was,  concluding  by 
saying,  '  I  didn't  see  him  strike  either  of  them.'  With 
this  the  captain  boiled  over  as  he  saw  I  was  going  to  slip 
through  his  ringers  after  all,  and  shaking  his  fist  under  my 
nose  he  called  me  all  manner  of  names,  and  said,  '  I'll  lock 
you  up,  anyway.  I'll  break  up  that  old  nuisance  of  a  Mis- 
sion for  you.  It  keeps  the  whole  place  in  an  uproar.  I'll 
send  you  back  to  prison  again,  where  you  belong.  That  old 
Mission  is  a  nuisance.' 

" '  He  has  a  shield  on  too,  captain,'  interrupted  the  police- 
man ;  '  just  look  at  him  !  and  he  has  a  great  big  club  down 
there  at  his  ould  mission  to  knock  men  down  wid.'  At  this 
the  captain  grabbed  me  by  the  collar  and  tore  my  vest 
open,  exclaiming,  '  I'll  take  it  off  you ! '  I  pushed  him 
back,  and  raising  my  finger  said,  '  Captain,  I  dare  you  to 
put  your  finger  on  that  shield ! '  As  I  spoke  he  started  for 
me  again,  but  the  opening  of  the  outside  door  caught  his 
attention,  and  there  wa3  my  wife  coming  in.  He  did  not 
know  her,  and  growled, 

" '  What  can  I  do  for  you,  madam?' 

" '  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  that  man  ? '  she 
questioned. 

"  '  What  in is  that  to  you  ? '  he  retorted  fiercely. 

"  '  A  great  deal,  sir  !  He  is  my  husband  ! '  she  answered 
calmly;  and  I  then  interrupted  them  by  saying  to  her, 


56  A  Happy  Outcome. 

'You  go  see  Mr.  Dodge  or  Mr.  Hatch.'  She  hurried  down 
to  Mr.  A.  S.  Hatch,  who  was  one  of  our  reliable  stand-bys 
in  time  of  trouble,  and  told  him  the  story.  Mr.  Hatch  was 
unable  to  leave  his  office  just  then,  but  he  put  her  in  a  car- 
riage and  sent  her  to  the  Superintendent  of  the  City  Mis- 
sions, with  a  note.  He  went  with  her  to  Mr.  William  E. 
Dodge,  Sr.,  and  this  noble  man  of  God  was  all  stirred  up  in 
a  moment.  '  Jerry  shall  not  sleep  in  that  place  one  night  if 
it  costs  $50,000  to  get  him  out,'  he  exclaimed.  '  Not  even 
if  a  special  court  has  to  be  called  immediately  I ' 

"  My  wife  knew  whose  hands  the  case  was  in,  and,  as  it  was 
now  after  the  time  for  meeting  to  commence,  she  hurried 
back  to  the  Mission  to  look  after  things  there.  Her  heart 
was  sad  and  heavy  as  she  thought  of  me  up  in  that  old 
station-house  among  those  lions,  and  though  she  had  com- 
mitted me  to  God,  she  could  not  help  feeling  anxious,  and 
somewhat  cast  down.  In  this  mood  she  came  to  the  door 
of  the  Mission,  and  looking  inside  she  started  back  all  in  a 
heap.  She  has  often  since  spoken  of  the  peculiar  feeling 
she  had  when,  looking  into  the  chapel,  she  saw  the  meeting 
running  in  good  style,  and  Mr.  Jerry  McAuley — if  you 
please — sitting  in  his  usual  place,  leading  the  meeting.  She 
could  hardly  believe  her  eyes,  and  giving  them  a  good  rub 
took  another  look  and  finally  concluded  that  it  was  either 
her  husband  that  she  had  left  a  short  time  ago  in  the  hands 
of  the  sharks,  or  his  ghost  sitting  there,  or  else  that  the  whole 
thing  had  been  an  ugly  dream  from  the  beginning.  She 
knew  she  was  wide  awake,  and  as  I  didn't  look  very  ghostly, 
she  settled  the  matter  quite  readily  in  her  own  mind,  and 
walked  in  with  a  hearty  '  Thank  God  ? '  and  took  part  in 
the  meeting. 

"  This  was  the  way  I  came  to  be  released  :    The  foreman's 


Jerry  s  True  Prediction.  57 

statements  were  hard  to  reconcile  with  what  the  drunken 
men  had  said,  and  what  the  officials  would  have  been  glad 
enough  to  prove  against  me  ;  and  so  after  talking  and  plan- 
ning and  scratching  their  heads  over  it,  the  sergeant 
whispered  to  the  others,  '  It  won't  do ;  that  commitment 
won't  stand,  so  we'd  better  tear  it  up  ; '  and  suiting  the  ac- 
tion to  the  words,  he  demolished  it  and  scattered  it  on  the 
floor.  The  foreman  now  interposed  for  his  men,  and  said, 

"  '  My  men  have  been  drinking  some,  sir ;  but  if  you  will 
let  us  get  back  to  work  now  I'd  like  it.'  '  Go  on,'  replied 
the  captain  ;  and  then,  glaring  at  me  like  a  wild  beast  cheated 
out  of  a  good  haul,  he  said  fiercely,  '  Get  out  of  here  !  Get 
out!' 

"  '  I  thought  you  were  going  to  lock  me  up,  captain  ?  '  I 
said  quietly. 

"'G-e-t   o-u-t!'  he  yelled. 

"  '  I  thought  you  were  going  to  lock  me  up  ? '  I  continued. 
'  Now  I  dare  you  to  do  it !  Why  don't  you  ?  ' 

"'G-e-t  o-u-t!' 

"  '  Yes,  I'll  get  out,'  I  replied ;  '  but  mark  you,  captain,  I'll 
be  in  this  ward  when  you  are  turned  out  of  it.'  And  I  was ; 
for  shortly  after  this  we  heard  that  he  was  censured  and 
fined,  and  he  then  resigned.  But  he  caused  me  a  great  deal 
of  trouble  before  my  prophecy  came  true  ;  for  as  soon  as  I 
got  out  of  his  clutches  that  time  he  picked  out  the  very 
worst  man  he  had  on  the  force — a  brutal  and  foul-mouthed 
fellow  by  the  name  of  Fitch — and  sent  this  '  guardian  '  as 
my  '  protector,'  with  orders  from  headquarters  to  keep  him 
for  just  that  post.  '  Arrah,  Jerry,'  he  said  when  he  came 
on,  '/'//  make  it  hot  for  yer ! ' — and  he  kept  his  word." 


58  Sad  Scenes  and  Sounds. 


CHAPTER  V. 

WATER  STREET  AS  IT  WAS. 

"Go  labor  on,  spend  and  be  spent, 
Thy  joy  to  do  the  Father's  will; 
It  was  the  way  the  Master  went, 
Shall  not  the  servant  tread  it  still  ?' 

But  even  Fitch  was  more  than  matched  by  Savage,  an- 
other officer  whose  beat  included  the  street  in  front  of  the 
Mission-house.  An  account  of  some  of  this  man's  proceed- 
ings we  find  prefaced  with  a  reference  to  Jerry's  campaign 
against  the  dens  by  which  he  was  surrounded.  The  terrible 
condition  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  the  Mission  was 
located  is  only  too  vividly  seen  by  this  account. 

Jerry  says :  "  About  this  time  I  became  so  grieved  over  the 
desolation  and  wickedness  all  around  us  that  my  soul  was 
stirred  within  me,  and  I  couldn't  stand  it  any  longer.  I 
knew  it  was  my  duty  to  do  all  I  could  to  reach  these  poor 
fallen  creatures  and  bring  them  to  God,  and  thus  check  to 
some  extent  the  devil's  work  ;  but  it  now  seemed  to  me  that 
some  one  ought  to  strike  at  the  fountain-head,  and  break  up 

those  miserable  dives.  I  went  to ,  and  he  referred  me 

to  his  agent,  -  — ,  and  from  him  I  went  to  a  number  of 
others.  I  was  all  stirred  up,  and  I  could  not  sleep  nights. 
I  would  toss  on  my  bed,  listening  to  the  hideous  sounds 
from  the -streets  below — cries,  groans,  mad  laughter,  and 
broken  snatches  of  songs,  with  occasional  cries  of  '  Murder! 


A  Troublesome  Policeman.  59 

murder  ! '  At  daylight  I  would  start  out  again  to  see  if  some- 
thing couldn't  be  done  to  stop  up  these  hell-holes — the 
cause  of  all  the  trouble.  I  received  plenty  of  promises,  and 
that  was  the  end  of  it ;  until,  finding  I  had  worn  out  a  pair  of 
shoes  and  received  no  help,  I  became  hopeless  of  doing  any- 
thing in  that  way,  and  went  for  them  the  best  I  could  on 
my  own  hook,  trusting  in  God  to  strengthen  me  and  give 
me  success:  and  he  did,  until  I  kept  the  police  headquarters 
so  warm  they  hated  to  see  me  coming,  and  would  say  when 
I  came  with  a  new  case,  'There  comes  that  McAuley  again. 
Who  in  the  world  has  he  got  now  f ' 

"  The  policeman  who  was  now  stationed  on  that  beat  soon 
began  to  let  us  know  that  his  sympathy  was  with  the  rum- 
sellers  and  dives.  His  name  was  Savage,  and  he  was  rightly 
named  ;  for  he  was  as  great  a  savage  as  ever  I  saw.  I  had 
thought  nothing  could  be  worse  than  Fitch  had  been,  but 
this  brute  was  worse  than  all.  When  he  couldn't  think  of 
anything  else  to  worry  us,  he  would  walk  into  the  Mission- 
room — in  direct  violation  of  his  orders — while  the  meeting 
was  going  on,  and  stamp  over  to  where  we  had  a  little  shelf 
on  which  a  "Bible  and  a  newspaper  or  two  were  usually  found, 
and  stamping  as  hard  as  he  could  with  his  great  heavy  boots, 
he  would  pick  up  a  newspaper,  throw  it  down  again,  and 
stamp,  stamp,  stamp,  all  the  way  back  to  the  door,  and  if  I 
would  go  for  him,  he  would  get  out  before  I  could  get  at 
him.  I  was  standing  in  the  door  one  night,  while  he  stood 
outside  with  some  of  his  friends,  and  finding  he  could  not 
get  in  to  disturb  us  without  passing  me,  he  commenced 
grinning  to  one  of  his  pals.  '  Ah,  I'm  not  going  to  look 
after  his  ould  Mission,'  said  he,  after  throwing  out  a  number 
of  other  slurs. 

"  '  Why,  of  course,'  I  answered  good  and  loud, '  of  course 


60  The  Woes  of  the  Fallen. 

you  won't:  but  if  I'd  sling  you  z.  couple  of  dollars  occasion- 
ally, as  all  these  miserable  gin-mills  do,  you'd  watch  for  me, 
wouldn't  you?' 

"  He  grated  his  teeth  savagely,  and  dropped  his  hand  to  his 
club  like  a  flash  ;  but  I  started  towards  him,  and  looking 
him  square  in  the  eyes,  said  :  '  If  you  dare  to  touch  vie  with 
that  club,  it'll  be  the  last  job  of  the  kind  you'll  ever  under- 
take !  You  haven't  got  that  poor  woman  to  club  to  death 
now!' 

"  He  started  back  astonished,  and  soon  left  me  to  myself. 
My  blood  was  up,  for  I  had  in  my  mind  a  case  which  I  will 
tell  you  about,  to  show  what  a  brute  he  was  and  what  kind 
of  encouragement  the  poor  fallen  ones  sometimes  receive  to 
help  them  to  reform. 

*'  One  of  those  poor  unfortunate  girls,  under  the  influence 
of  liquor,  and  not  knowing  what  she  was  doing,  wandered 
out  on  the  street  and  created  some  disturbance  by  singing. 
Savage  went  for  her,  and  began  clubbing  her  with  his  heavy 
night-club.  It  was  not  daybreak  yet,  and  everything  else 
was  so  still,  we  could  hear  her  screams,  and  distinctly  count 
the  heavy  blows  of  that  terrible  club— thug— thug— thug- 
like  pounding  a  great  ox.  I  could  not  stay  in  bed,  so,  run- 
ning to  the  window,  I  looked  out  to  see  if  I  could  catch  him 
at  it.  There  was  a  great  pile  of  mortar  opposite  us,  where 
they  were  building  the  new  houses,  and  just  as  I  reached  the 
window  he  struck  her  and  knocked  her  down  into  the  mor- 
tar. She  stretched  up  both  hands  at  arms'  length,  begging 
him  not  to  kill  her.  He  struck  first  one  arm  and  then  the 
other  with  his  club,  and  they  dropped,  as  if  broken  by  the 
blows.  He  then  beat  her  out  of  the  mortar  and  across  to 
the  curbstone  on  my  side  of  the  street ;  when,  as  she  made 
one  more  effort  to  regain  her  feet,  he  knocked  her  down 


Heartless  Officials.  61 

with  another  blow,  and  she  dropped  on  my  cellar-door.  I 
dashed  up  the  window,  and  called  to  him,  '  Hold  on  there! 
Why  don't  you  take  that  woman  in,  if  she's  done  wrong? 
What  do  want  to  kill  her  for,  say  ?  ' 

"'What's  that  your  business?'  he  answered,  as  soon  as 
he  recovered  from  the  surprise  caused  by  hearing  my  voice. 

"  '  I'll  show  you  in  the  morning,'  I  retorted.  '  Now  you 
take  her  to  the  station-house,  or  I'll  make  you  pay  dear  for 
your  brutality  to  a  helpless  woman.' 

"  He  picked  her  up,  and  started  around  the  corner  with 
her,  and  I  went  back  to  bed.  I  learned  afterwards  that  she 
became  so  weak,  no  doubt  from  the  clubbing,  that  she  couldn't 
walk  ;  so  he  called  another  policeman  like  himself,  and  when 
they  found  her  unable  to  go  without  being  carried,  they  fell 
to  clubbing  her  again,  first  one  striking  her  and  then  the 
other ;  and  those  who  heard  it  said  her  screams  were  ter- 
rific. 

"  A  man  was  clubbed  to  death  on  the  same  beat  about  this 
time,  under  very  suspicious  circumstances.  Part  of  Savage's 
beat  was  travelled  during  certain  hours  of  the  night  by  a 
Dutch  policeman.  The  latter,  on  going  over  his  beat  one 
morning,  found,  he  said,  the  body  of  a  man  who  had  un- 
doubtedly been  clubbed  to  death  and  then  thrown  behind 
a  box.  Savage  blamed  it  on  the  poor  Dutchman,  and  of 
course  it  would  not  do  for  me  to  say  the  former  did  it,  as  I 
had  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  fact.  I  take  no  pleasure 
in  referring  to  these  painful  memories,  but  in  order  to  rightly 
understand  our  struggles  at  that  time,  you  must  know  some- 
thing of  the  obstacles  we  had  to  contend  with,  many  of  which 
were  actually  brought  in  our  way  by  the  very  ones  the  city 
was  paying  to  protect  us !  During  all  this  time  the  meet- 
ings were  going  on  first  rate." 


62  What  Sustained  Jerry. 

But  opposition  was  not  confined  to  the  minions  of  the  law. 
Those  who  do  not  know  the  kind  of  stuff  of  which  our  hero 
was  made  may  wonder  that  the  work  was  not  given  up  in 
despair.  But  besides  having  a  fast  faith  in  God,  he  was  pos- 
sessed of  great  personal  courage,  and  opposition  only  served 
to  keep  his  enthusiasm  stirred  up.  At  the  same  time,  in 
speaking  of  those  days  of  difficulty,  Jerry  invariably  at- 
tributed his  success  to  God.  These  are  his  words :  "  It  was 
a  tremendous  struggle  to  carry  on  this  work  under  such  diffi- 
culties, and  as  I  look  back  to  those  stormy  times  I  see  the 
mighty  hand  of  God  leading  and  supporting  me  through  it 
all.  If  it  had  not  been  for  his  all-sustaining  grace  I  should 
have  quit  and  got  out  of  that  wicked  locality  as  fast  as  my 
legs  would  carry  me,  but  he  sustained  me  so  fully  that  I  did 
not  even  think  to  myself  of  giving  up  the  fight.  There  was 
a  special  policeman  detailed  to  look  after  the  Mission  at 
night,  but  he  soon  proved  as  much  an  enemy  as  any,  until  I 
took  his  number  and  complained  of  him,  and  he  was  moved 
out  of  the  ward. 

"The  meetings  continued  to  do  good  during  all  this  time. 
The  Lord  poured  out  his  blessing,  souls  were  saved,  and  the 
devil  seemed  to  grow  more  mad  every  day.  Seeing  they 
could  not  get  the  best  of  us  while  we  were  looking  at  them, 
the  rabble  tried  some  new  tactics,  and  would  wait  quietly 
until  the  meetings  were  started  and  going,  when  they  would 
smash  the  windows.  Some  one  would  be  praying  or  talking, 
when  crash  would  go  a  pane  of  glass.  This  continued  un- 
til there  was  hardly  a  pane  of  glass  left  in  the  house.  We 
wired  them  up  then  and  left  but  one  exposed ;  this  being 
toward  the  back  of  the  building,  near  where  the  organ  stood, 
had  thus  far  escaped  the  fate  of  the  others.. 

"  The  meeting  had  commenced  one  afternoon  when  bang 


Fixing  the  Mission.  63 

came  a  brickbat  through  the  window,  close  by  the  musi- 
cian's head.  '  Oh,'  he  exclaimed  as  the  brick  whizzed 
past  him,  'what's  that?'  'Oh,  that's  nothing,'  I  replied 
quickly ;  '  they  send  whole  paving-stones  sometimes ;  that 
is  only  a  piece  of  brick ! '  '  Hallelujah  ! '  cried  out  one  of 
the  audience  ;  '  let  them  come !  The  Lord  is  our  defence, 
so  they  can't  harm  us  ! ' 

"  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  houses  opposite  being 
finished,  they  were  thrown  open  for  tenants,  and  a  man 
named  Johnny  Wagstaff — a  wretched  fellow — moved  in. 
He  came  with  two  big  car-loads  of  furniture,  and  strutting 
around  made  all  the  show  he  possibly  could.  As  he  was 
about  to  go  into  the  house  with  the  last  lot  of  goods  some 
old  acquaintance  standing  outside  spoke  to  him,  and  he 
turned  laughingly  and  said,  '  Oh,  I  thought  I'd  come  down 
and  keep  Brother  McAuley  company.'  We  hated  to  have 
that  rum-hole  there,  for  we  had  prayed  God  that  no  such 
place  should  ever  prosper  there.  We  kept  on  praying,  and 
Johnny  found  us  a  thorn  in  his  flesh,  for  we  cut  off  his 
customers  and  hindered  liis  sales.  He  fought  hard,  and 
was  determined  to  beat  us  anyway  if  possible.  I  shall 
never  forget  one  Fourth-of-July  night.  They  had  made  up 
their  minds  to  fix  me  and  the  '  Ould  Mission '  that  night 
anyway  :  so  they  procured  an  old  barrel  and  placed  it  in 
the  middle  of  the  street ;  they  then  set  a  watch  at  the  door, 
and  as  soon  as  any  one  rose  to  testify  they  lighted  a.  pack 
of  fire-crackers  and  dropped  them  into  the  empty  barrel. 
Of  course  with  the  terrible  racket  they  made  a  man 
couldn't  hear  his  own  voice.  This  seemed  to  promise  to 
be  a  great  success  and  break  up  the  meeting  entirely,  and 
would  have  done  so  if  a  happy  thought  had  not  helped 
me  out.  After  we  had  tried  several  times  in  vain  to  hear 


64  Fire-works  and  Testimonies. 

each  other,  I  said  to  the  congregation,  '  Now  I  want  you 
to  watch  me :  I'll  select  a  hymn  ahead  of  the  time,  and  the 
moment  I  say  "  Sing!"  just  sing  with  all  your  might,  and  when 
I  say, "  Testify  /"  be  ready  and  spring  right  up.'  A  convert 
arose  and  opened  his  mouth,  when  bang!  bang!  bang! 
went  the  fireworks  in  the  barrel.  '  Sing ! '  I  shouted,  and 
they  fairly  roared;  my!  what  lungs  they  had,  and  you 
couldn't  hear  those  old  fireworks  at  all!  Just  as  soon  as 
that  pack  was  out  I  called  '  Testify  ! '  and  a  brother  jumped 
up,  and  before  they  could  get  the  next  pack  ready  and 
rightly  on  fire  he  was  through,  and  then  we  drowned  the 
racket  again  with  a  grand  old  hymn.  I  knew  they  could 
not  keep  this  up  forever  on  account  of  the  expense,  and 
soon  they  quit  it  and  began  to  fire  their  roman  candles  at 
the  back  of  the  house ;  but  we  kept  right  on,  and  we  never 
had  a  better  meeting.  It  was  certainly  a  lively  one  all 
through,  and  as  one  expressed  it  afterwards,  '  We  had  a 
red-Jiot  time.'  Several  were  helped  spiritually,  and  among 
others  one  soul  was  gloriously  saved!  Johnny  grew  poorer 
and  poorer,  and  after  a  while  his  trouble  increased  daily, 
and  at  last  his  wife  died  and  he  gave  up. 

"  He  came  into  the  Mission,  and  I  shook  hands  with  him 
and  talked  to  him  kindly,  He  soon  moved  out,  and  it 
wasn't  much  trouble  for  him  to  move  now,  for  instead  of 
his  car-loads  of  furniture  he  had  only  an  old  scuttle  partly 
full  of  coal!  He  died  shortly  afterwards,  and  the  place  was 
again  '  To  let.'  We  carried  the  matter  to  God,  and  prayed 
him  to  break  up  whoever  came  in  there  to  sell  rum ;  and 
that  prayer  was  heard,  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  failed  one 
after  the  other  and  moved  out — several  having  lost  all  their 
money  trying  to  do  the  devil's  work  in  that  place." 

Of  another  occasion  Jerry  speaks  as  follows : 


Battle  with  a  Bully.  65 

"  A  friend  whose  gifts  were  given  by  the  wholesale  had 
charge  of  the  meeting  on  the  night  in  question,  and  stood 
with  the  open  Bible  in  his  hand  reading.  I  had  not  reached 
the  chapel,  but  was  on  the  stairs  coming  down.  Mr.  A. 
had  just  finished  a  sentence,  and  was  about  to  read  further, 
when  a  fellow  let  out  an  unearthly  yell — like  an  Indian — 
1  SILENCE,'  he  shouted  ;  and  Mr.  A.,  who  had  never  heard 
such  an  awful  sound  in  his  life,  jumped  as  if  he  had  been 
shot,  and  nearly  dropped  the  Bible  from  his  hands.  I  came 
in  a  second  after,  and  couldn't  think  what  was  the  matter. 
My  wife  kept  nodding  to  me  and  pointing  at  the  giant  of  a 
fellow  who  roared  so.  I  didn't  know  anything  about  it — 
though  I  could  see  something  had  happened ;  but  out  of 
respect  to  the  Book  that  Mr.  A.  was  now  reading  again, 
I  asked  no  questions. 

"  In  a  moment  or  two  we  were  startled  by  another  un- 
earthly yell,  and  I  walked  down  to  where  this  man  sat. 
He  was  a  perfect  giant,  with  great,  broad,  massive  shoulders, 
and  his  red  shirt  being  open  at  the  neck  showed  the  heavy 
matted  hair  on  his  breast,  making  him  look  like  a  lion.  I 
spoke  to  him  kindly,  and  told  him  he  would  have  to  be 
good  or  go  out,  and  informed  him  that  we  always  insisted 
on  good  order.  He  pointed  over  his  shoulder  to  his  chum 
sitting  behind  him,  as  much  as  to  say  that  it  was  he  that 
created  the  disturbance ;  but  I  paid  no  attention  to  his 
motions,  and  kept  on  talking  to  him.  I  then  went  back  to 
my  seat,  determined  to  keep  an  eye  on  him. 

"  Mr.  A.  went  on  with  the  reading  and  pretty  soon  I  saw 
this  bully  drop  his  head,  and  in  another  minute  he  uttered 
that  terrible  yell  for  the  third  time.  I  knew  I  was  in  for 
it  now,  for  if  I  let  this  fellow  get  the  best  of  us  our  last 
hope  of  ever  going  on  with  our  meetings  undisturbed 


66  A  Desperate  Contest. 

would  be  gone.  I  thought  of  this,  and  then  I  looked  at  him, 
and  knew  that  a  row  with  such  a  great  brute  of  a  fellow 
was  no  joke ;  but  the  work  of  the  Lord  was  at  stake,  so  I 
walked  down  to  where  he  sat  and  told  him  firmly  he  must 
leave. 

44  4  Ah,  go  on ! '  he  growled.  '  What's  the  matter  wid 
you?' 

41 4  Come/  I  answered  quietly,  '  you  must  go  out,  or  I'll 
put  you  out.' 

44  He  looked  at  me  a  moment,  but  made  no  move  to  do 
as  I  told  him.  I  then  reached  out  and  caught  him  by  the 
collar,  when  he  coolly  threw  his  arms  over  the  back  of  the 
seat,  locking  his  hands  together  with  a  grip  like  a  vise, 
and  said,  with  a  grin,  '  Go  ahead,  old  fellow.'  I  suppose 
he  thought  I  could  not  lift  him.  I  ran  my  hand  down  to 
get  a  good  hold  of  his  shirt-collar,  and  surging  back,  I 
brought  him  to  his  feet,  bench  and  all.  I  dragged  him  out 
into  the  aisle,  but  he  clung  to  the  long  bench  till  one  end 
of  it  suddenly  struck  the  ceiling  and  that  broke  his  hold. 
I  grabbed  him  by  the  throat  now,  as  he  struck  at  me  square 
from  the  shoulder  and  tried  to  hit  me  between  the  eyes ; 
but  he  soon  found  out  that  I  had  not  forgotten  all  I  knew 
of  the  '  manly  art '  when  I  stopped  his  blows  cleverly,  and 
in  return  gave  him  another  shove  nearer  the  door,  tighten- 
ing my  grip  on  his  throat  all  the  time. 

44  He  kept  hitting  at  me  like  a  madman,  but  failed  every 
time  to  get  a  blow  home  on  me,  while  in  the  mean  time 
we  were  getting  nearer  and  nearer  the  door.  When  not 
striking  at  me  he  would  clutch  at  anything  and  everything 
— the  benches,  the  heads  of  those  near  him,  whatever  he 
could  get  hold  of — trying  to  stop  his  progress. 

44 1  felt  the  God  of  battles  wa*  my  helper,  and  I  was  bound 


Winning  the  Victory.  67 

to  win.  It  was  like  a  battle  between  the  kingdoms  of  good 
and  evil.  By  the  time  we  got  to  the  door  we  were  in  such 
a  fearful  struggle  that  when  we  struck  the  doors — about 
two  inches  thick,  and  built  of  hard  wood — we  carried  them 
clear  off  the  hinges,  and  split  one  door  all  up.  By  this  time 
he  was  black  in  the  face  from  my  grip  on  his  throat,  and  he 
gasped,  '  Let  go  !  1-e-t,  g-o !  I'll  be-have ;  1-e-t,  g-o,  J-e-r- 
J-e-r-r-y.' 

" '  Ah/  I  said,  as  I  gave  him  one  more  squeeze  and  a 
tighter  one,  and  shoved  him  off.  '  Ah !  ah  !  you  great  old 
coward,  you're  no  man  after  all ! '  He  begged  hard,  and  I 
let  him  go.  When  we  got  out  on  the  sidewalk  where  I  had 
dragged  him,  I  found  it  had  been  a  put-up  job ;  for  across 
the  street  stood  a  lot  of  his  chums  shouting,  '  Give  it  to 
him,  Jackson.  Give  ould  Hallelujah  Jerry  fits ; '  but  they 
did  not  try  to  help  him.  '  He  won't  give  it  to  him,  nor 
you  either,'  I  replied. 

"  As  soon  as  Jackson  caught  his  breath  he  ran  across  the 
street  where  there  was  a  new  building,  and  he  and  some  of 
the  rest  picked  up  bricks  and  prepared  to  brick-bat  me.  I 
didn't  give  them  time,  but  walking  coolly  over  to  them  I 
said,  '  Ah,  you  cowards,  drop  those  bricks — drop  them  ! ' 
and  they  did,  and  ran  for  their  lives.  I  then  saw  two 
policemen  standing  looking  on  and  laughing  at  them. 

"  I  then  returned  to  the  Mission,  and  joined  in  singing 
'  Rock  of  Ages,  cleft  for  me,'  which  they  had  been  singing 
all  through  the  row.  Things  went  on  about  as  usual  after 
this,  but  the  would-be  disturbers  were  a  little  more  careful 
for  fear  of  meeting. with  a  similar  defeat,  for  this  man 
Jackson  was  one  of  the  worst  men  in  that  worst  of  streets. 

"After  a  while,  however,  another  disturber  came  in  and 
thought  he  would  try  a  new  trick  on  me.  He  made  some 


68  Another  Disturber. 

disturbance,  but  I  saw  he  had  been  drinking,  and  said, 
'  Don't  mind  that  poor  fellow,  friends ;  he  has  been  taking 
a  little  too  much  gin.' 

"'Not  a  drap  of  gin,  Jerry,' he  replied.  'Nothing  but 
good  ould  bourbon  whiskey.' 

"  I  saw  he  had  got  to  be  bounced,  so  I  started  up  a  good 
hymn  and  went  for  him ;  when  he  saw  me  coming  he  laid 
right  down  on  his  back  on  the  floor,  thinking  I  couldn't 
get  him  out  in  that  position.  It  may  be  he  had  heard  how 
I  put  Jackson  out,  and  took  this  way  of  getting  the  best 
of  me. 

44  4  All  right,  young  man,'  says  I ;  '  if  you  prefer  going  out 
that  way,  I've  no  objections ; '  and  taking  him  by  the  collar 
on  the  back  of  his  neck  I  dragged  him  down  the  aisle  and 
out  he  went." 


Water  Street  Man-traps.  69 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MORE  ABOUT  WATER  STREET. 

"  Put  thou  thy  trust  in  God, 

In  duty's  path  go  on, 
Fix  on  His  work  thy  steadfast  eye, 
So  shall  thy  work  be  done." 

Some  idea  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  Jerry  worked  is 
necessary  to  a  right  understanding  of  the  nature  of  the 
task  upon  his  shoulders.  We  have  quoted  already  some  of 
his  words  in  reference  to  his  surroundings.  Upon  another 
occasion  he  thus  describes  them : 

"  But  few  can  have  any  idea  of  the  terrible  dens  with 
which  this  wicked  locality  was  crowded.  The  basements 
were  especially  loathsome,  several  having  particular  names, 
such  as  '  The  Well/  '  The  Man-trap,'  etc.  They  were 
merely  holes  in  the  ground  under  the  houses,  where  the 
tide  backed  in  twice  a  day  at  high-water.  In  each  of  these 
dark  holes,  without  any  window  or  outlet,  with  no  sinks  or 
anything  in  the  form  of  an  opening,  for  any  purpose  what- 
ever, except  the  entrance  from  the  street,  from  four  to  six 
girls  or  women  and  as  many  men  used  to  live.  From  these 
death-holes  the  girls  would  come  out  and  button-hole  men 
as  they  passed  by ;  sometimes  they  would  snatch  the  hat 
from  a  sailor's  head  and  dart  back  into  their  den.  If  he 
was  wise  he  would  keep  right  on  and  let  his  hat  go,  for  if 
fool  enough  to  go  inside  it  would  be  the  worse  for  him ; 
he  would  most  likely  be  thrown  out  after  being  beaten  and 


70  Ill-gotten  Gains. 

robbed,  if  not  murdered,  for  sometimes  men  never  came 
out  of  those  holes  alive.  The  inmates  of  these  filthy  dens 
died  off  rapidly,  but  their  places  were  filled  right  away  by 
others. 

"  This  terrible  state  of  things  weighed  on  my  mind  so  that 
I  could  not  sleep  at  night,  but  tossed  restlessly  upon  my 
bed,  and  I  felt  that  to  clear  my  conscience  I  must  do  some- 
thing to  break  up  these  fearful  places.  I  found  to  my 
astonishment  that  the  owner  of  the  property  where  these 
places  were  kept  was  a  very  rich  man  living  on  Broadway, 
and  was  considered  a  very  nice,  respectable  gentleman.  I 
went  to  him  with  my  burden,  but  he  paid  no  more  attention 
to  me  than  he  would  to  the  barking  of  a  dog.  I  could  not 
for  the  life  of  me  understand  how  this  fine  gentleman  could 
be  so  indifferent  to  things  that  seemed  so  terrible  to  me. 
My  astonishment  was  not  so  great  when  afterwards  I  found 
out  that  each  of  these  holes  brought  him  in  from  $30  to 
$40  per  month ! 

"  Seeing  that  it  was  no  use  to  expect  anything  from  this 
man,  I  next  applied  to  a  well-known  Society,  and  laid  the 
matter  before  the  agent.  The  latter  was  very  enthusiastic, 
and  told  me  with  perfect  assurance  he  would  attend  to  it 
right  away,  '  and  he  would  soon  have  Water  Street  as  quiet 
as  Fifth  Avenue.'  Encouraged  by  this  I  went  home  and 
waited  to  see  what  they  would  do. 

"  I  was  becoming  discouraged  again  when  I  didn't  see 
anything  of  the  tremendous  clearing  out  that  had  been 
promised,  until  one  day  on  looking  out  of  the  window,  I 
saw  some  policemen  standing  near  the  curbstone  on  the 
opposite  side,  staring  up  at  the  Mission.  My  first  thought 
was  that  the  Mission  was  on  fire,  so  I  walked  over  and  in- 
quired, 'What's  the  matter?  Is  it  on  fire?'  'No,'  one  of 


Fighting  the  Rum-sellers.  7 1 

them  replied, '  we  were  sent  down  here  to  watch  the  Mission.' 
I  looked  at  them  in  astonishment ;  to  watch  the  Mission, 
while  here  in  broad  sight,  and  within  a  few  feet  of  them, 
these  wicked  wretches  were  robbing  and  plundering  every- 
body they  could  get  hold  of. 

" '  Why,'  I  exclaimed,  as  soon  as  I  could  control  myself, 
'  I  didn't  want  any  one  to  watch  the  Mission,  but  I  want  to 
break  up  these  dens  around  here  ! '  '  Oh,  we've  got  nothing 
to  do  but  to  obey  orders,'  was  the  cool  answer ;  '  and  all 
the  orders  we  got  was  to  come  here  and  watch  the  Mission.' 
I  finally  went  to  another  temperance  man,  paid  him  some 
money,  but  with  no  better  results ;  but  by  this  time  I  was 
learning  how  to  attend  to  the  matter  myself,  so  having 
received  some  money  from  Mrs.  Dr.  Barnet  and  another 
lady,  and  adding  to  it  the  little  I  had,  I  went  to  work.  I 
selected  some  of  the  converts  to  get  the  proper  evidence  as 
witnesses,  and  then  would  bring  the  parties  into  court,  and 
having  good  clear  testimony  to  acJUial  offences  committed, 
I  secured  convictions,  and  thus  broke  up  these  dens  one 
after  another,  until  they  became  as  scarce  as  they  had  once 
been  plentiful. 

"  But  it  was  no  easy  matter,  and  I  had  to  contend  with  a 
bitter  opposition,  not  only  from  the  proprietors  of  the 
places  themselves,  but  from  their  friends  among  the  lawyers 
and  others  holding  official  positions  ;  judges,  lawyers,  and 
some  of  the  police  authorities  began  to  go  for  me,  but 
knowing  I  was  in  the  right,  I  fought  on.  A  lawyer,  whose 
name  has  been  before  the  public  a  good  deal  lately,  kept 
me  on  the  witness-stand  for  two  hours  and  a  half  at  one 
time,  insulting  and  abusing  me,  in  trying  to  clear  a  man 
named  Dugan  whom  I  had  arrested.  The  facts  of  the 
case  were  as  follows : 


72  An  Invisible  License. 

"This  fellow  (Dugan)  kept  a  dive,  and  I  went  in  and 
demanded  to  see  his  license  in  order  to  secure  evidence  in 
this  way  that  he  was  the  proprietor.  The  bar-tender 
replied,  '  The  license  is  locked  up  in  the  safe,  and  can't  be 
got  till  the  man  who  has  the  key  comes  in.'  I  knew  this 
was  a  trick,  for  the  law  demands  that  the  license  shall  be 
hung  up  in  a  conspicuous  place,  where  anybody  can  see  it. 
I  waited  patiently,  until  one  day,  while  standing  at  the  door 
with  the  policeman  who  was  to  be  stationed  at  the  Mission, 
I  saw  Dugan  enter  his  dive.  I  spoke  to  the  policeman, 
and  asked  if  he  would  go  over  with  me.  '  Certainly,'  he 
replied,  and  over  we  started.  We  had  almost  reached  the 
door  when  he  suddenly  stopped  and  refused  to  go  any 
farther. 

" '  Why,  what's  the  matter  ? '  I  asked. 

" '  Oh,  I  don't  want  to  get  into  a  muss,  for  Dugan  is  a 
friend  of  the  inspector,  and  he'd  go  for  me.' 

" '  Ah,  you  old  coward  ! '  I  replied  ;  and  there  I  was,  the 
laughing-stock  of  the  whole  crowd  of  ruffians  and  degraded 
women  who  were  looking  on.  I  was  not  defeated,  however, 
in  the  attempt  to  arrest  him,  for  shortly  after  this  I  had  him 
taken  up  and  brought  before  the  judge,  and  that  was  the 
time  when  I  received  the  rough  handling  from  the  lawyer. 

"  I  not  only  had  to  put  up  with  the  abuse  of  the  lawyers 
and  others,  but  was  bothered  with  repeated  intentional 
delays.  The  case  was  called  several  different  times,  but 
each  time  there  was  some  pretended  reason  for  laying  it 
over:  twice  or  more  they  pretended  that  Dugan  was  too 
sick  to  put  in  an  appearance,  and  thus  the  thing  was  kept  up 
to  worry  my  life  out.  My  lawyer  failed  to  do  his  duty,  so 
in  the  end  I  lost  the  case. 

"  Shortly  afterwards  Dugan  was  really  taken  sick,  and  grow- 


Returning  Good  for  Evil.  73 

ing  worse,  it  looked  as  if  he  was  going  to  die.  I  Knew  how 
he  hated  me,  but  I  also  knew  he  was  now  sick  and  in  trouble, 
so  I  went  over  and  knocked  at  his  door.  '  May  I  come  in?' 
I  asked  kindly  ;  '  I  don't  want  to  intrude  on  you,  but  would 
like  to  come  in  if  you  will  let  me.'  He  recognized  my 
voice,  but  nevertheless  he  answered  faintly, '  Yes,  come  in  if 
you  want  to ! ' 

"  I  entered,  and  after  talking  with  him  and  his  wife  a 
short  time,  I  knelt  in  prayer.  I  prayed  earnestly  for  them, 
and  held  them  up  in  the  arms  of  faith  to  a  sin-pardoning 
Christ,  who  never  turned  one  poor  trembling  soul  away,  and 
whe  loves  even  his  enemies,  and  would  do  them  good. 
They  were  both  very  much  broken  up,  and  wept  freely,  and 
I  left. 

"  Encouraged  by  my  first  visit,  I  called  again,  and  brought 
a  beautiful,  sweet  bouquet  of  flowers.  Again  I  called,  and 
this  time  managed  to  secure  a  few  peaches,  they  being  very 
scarce  at  that  season  of  the  year,  and  brought  them  to  him. 
He  seemed  to  appreciate  my  kindness,  and  was  more  broken 
up  than  ever.  We  talked  over  matters,  and,  referring  to 
his  business  of  his  own  accord,  he  said  he  was  very  sorry 
he  ever  engaged  in  the  rum  traffic  at  all:  knew  it  was 
wrong,  but  once  in  he  could  not  get  out  without  losing 
everything  he  had,  and  this  he  had  not  the  moral  courage 
to  do  while  in  health  and  strength.  He  lingered  a  short 
time,  and  died  from  exhaustion." 

In  all  the  history  of  our  brother's  work  it  is  most  inspir- 
ing to  see  that  the  more  and  the  fiercer  the  opposition,  the 
more  did  God  honor  his  labors.  So  he  speaks  as  follows  of 
one  of  these  seasons  of  bitterest  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  enemies  aroused: 

"  Meanwhile  the  work  of  soul-saving  went  on  with  wonder- 


74  Captain  and  Engineer  Saved. 

ful  success,  and  God's  presence  was  manifested  more  and 
more.  There  would  be  as  many  as  twenty-five  or  thirty 
forward  for  prayers  at  one  time,  while  the  aisle  would  be 
crowded  with  those  unable  to  get  seats.  Still  the  meetings 
increased  in  interest  and  attendance  until,  there  being  no 
room  inside,  the  people  gathered  around  the  door  on  the 
street.  We  could  not  find  standing-room  for  more  than 
half  of  those  who  wanted  to  get  in. 

"The  revival  took  effect  for  awhile  among  the  captains  of 
the  Baltimore  freight-boat  line,  and  became  of  considerable 

interest.  One  captain  by  the  name  of  B was  converted, 

as  were  also  all  of  his  crew  excepting  the  cook. 

"One  night  his  engineer,  having  heard  from  others,  came 
to  see  for  himself  what  was  going  on.  The  captain  was 
there  that  night  seeking  help,  and  before  the  meeting 
closed  the  engineer  became  deeply  convicted  and  knelt  to 
ask  God  to  forgive  his  sins.  While  we  were  all  on  our 
knees  some  one  whispered  to  me  that  Captain  B.  and  his 
engineer  did  not  speak  to  each  other.  '  Is  that  so  ? '  I 
answered,  and  getting  off  my  knees  I  went  to  where  he  was 
and  whispered : 

"  'Captain,  you  must  be  an  awful  hypocrite  ?' 

"  'Why?    How  so?'  he  replied  in  astonishment. 

" '  Because  you  claim  to  be  seeking  the  Lord,  and  yet  you 
won't  speak  to  so-and-so  over  there,  and  are  holding  hatred 
in  your  heart.  Shame  on  you  I' 

"  He  dropped  his  head,  and  leaving  him  I  went  softly  over 
to  the  engineer  and  whispered  the  same  words  to  him.  It 
was  but  a  moment  when  they  both  sprang  to  their  feet  at 
once,  as  if  moved  by  the  same  impulse,  and  meeting,  fairly 
hugged  each  other,  and  wept,  and  then  knelt  down  together 
and  cried  to  God  for  forgiveness.  They  prayed  earnestly 


v        Reconciled  to  God  and  Man.  75 

for  mercy,  and  the  captain  was  the  first  to  receive  the 
answer.  He  clapped  his  hands,  and  the  joy  was  beam- 
ing in  his  face.  But  he  had  hardly  time  to  straighten  up 
fully  when  the  engineer  also  caught  the  joyful  sound  of  for- 
giveness and  was  on  his  feet  in  an  instant  ;  and  then  they 
began  shaking  hands  and  hugging  each  other  again. 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  had  touched  them,  and  all  their 
enmity  and  hatred  had  vanished  like  the  dew  before  the 
rising  sun.  Others  soon  caught  the  spirit,  and  gathered 
around  them,  shaking  hands  and  rejoicing,  shouting  and 
weeping  with  them,  until  some  of  the  outsiders  ran  across 
the  street,  thinking  the  old  Mission  was  tumbling  down. 

"  I  asked  one  of  the  boatmen  who  was  saved  at  that  time, 
when  he  was  testifying,  '  How  do  you  know  you  were  con- 
verted ?' 

"  '  Well,  I'll  tell  you,'  he  replied ;  '  I  went  from  here  to 
my  boat,  and  locking  the  door,  just  made  up  my  mind  never 
to  open  it  until  converted.  And  I  kept  my  word  T 

"  '  How  could  you  tell  when  it  was  done  ?' 

" '  Well,  I'll  have  to  explain  that  in  my  own  way,'  he 
answered,  '  but  it  seems  to  me  the  Lord  just  took,  as  it 
were,  something  like  a  barnacle-scraper  [a  keen,  sharp- 
edged,  three-cornered  piece  of  steel,  fastened  to  a  long 
handle  and  used  to  scrape  off  the  little  shellfish  and  other 
deposits  that  gather  on  the  bottom  of  vessels]  and  scraped 
my  heart  all  out  clean,  and  I  haven't  felt  anything  wrong 
there  since  ! '  * 

"  Another  came  forward,  and  I  asked  him  to  pray  for  him- 
self. 

" '  I  can't.     I  don't  know  how,'  he  replied  mournfully. 

" '  Oh  yes,  you  can — just  say  the  Lord's  Prayer.' 

"'  I  don't  know  it.' 


76  An  Original  Prayer. 

"  '  Did  you  never  hear  it  ? ' 

"  '  No ;  I've  heard  about  it,  but  I  never  heard  it* 

"  '  Well,  just  pray  in  your  own  way.  Ask  the  Lord  for 
what  you  want  in  your  own  words.'  He  bowed  his  head, 
and  in  a  moment  broke  out,  4  O  Lord !  O  Lord !  scratch 
my  sins  out,  and  then  keep  them  scratched  out ! '  and  the 
Lord  answered  that  simple  but  honest  prayer." 

These  stories  of  redeeming  grace  might  be  multiplied  a 
hundredfold  had  full  records  been  kept,  but  Jerry  appears 
to  have  had  little  care  for  making  up  grand  totals.  When 
souls  were  saved  he  gave  God  the  glory,  and  was  en- 
couraged to  go  forward  in  efforts  to  win  others,  leaving 
the  record  to  be  made  up  in  heaven.  The  few  cases  that 
follow  in  these  pages  are  illustrative  of  many  more. 

"One  night,"  he  says,  "we  had  a  wonderful  meeting;  a 
Catholic  girl  was  earnestly  seeking  salvation.  She  had  pleaded 
and  prayed  for  forgiveness  for  a  long  time  without  experienc- 
ing any  change,  while  the  Spirit  of  God  seemed  to  hover  over 
that  congregation  and  every  other  prayer  was  stilled  in  awe, 
as  all  present  listened  breathlessly  to  the  simple  but  deep 
and  fervent  petition  of  that  poor  girl.  She  actually  seemed 
to  talk  to  God  face  to  face,  with  a  holy  reverence  that  sub- 
dued every  listener  and  hushed  every  doubting  thought.  All 
at  once  she  ceased  praying  aloud,  and  bowed  her  head  in 
silence  upon  the  seat,  while  a  peculiar  hush  rested  on  every' 
heart,  as  if  expecting  a  quick  answer.  After  a  moment's 
silence  she  slowly  raised  her  face  toward  heaven,  and,  with 
hands  outstretched,  whispered  distinctly,  'He  is  coming/ 
HE  IS  COMING!'  bringing  her  hands  together  in  triumph  as 
she  uttered  the  last  word.  Her  prayer  was  answered,  her 
faith  accepted.  She  made  no  farther  demonstration  for  a 
moment,  and  nothing  could  be  heard  but  her  deep  breathing 


A  Prodigal  Reclaimed.  77 

and  the  subdued  sobs  of  some  others  kneeling  near  her, 
while  they  actually  trembled  so  that  the  rattle  of  the  bench 
at  which  they  knelt  could  be  distinctly  heard,  in  spite  of 
their  efforts  to  hold  it  still.  This  girl  became  a  remarkably 
earnest  and  devout  worker.  It  was  really  wonderful  to 
witness  her  faith  and  her  success  in  reaching  others,  espe- 
cially women,  and  bringing  them  to  Christ.  She  remained 
faithful,  and  removed  to  the  far  West  afterwards,  where  she 
continued  an  efficient  and  highly  esteemed  Christian  worker. 

"It  was  about  this  time  that  an  Irishman  who  had  worked 
for  McCreery  &  Co.  of  Broadway  came  to  us.  He  was  a 
remarkably  handsome  man,  and  came  of  a  wealthy  family  of 
consequence  in  Ireland.  He  was  dissipated  and  almost  a. 
wreck,  when  a  trip  to  this  country  was  proposed,  to  remove 
him  beyond  the  influence  of  his  old  associates,  and  thus 
reform  him.  But  change  of  place  is  not  a  change  of  heart, 
as  was  soon  shown  in  his  case,  and  new  comrades  of  similar 
habits  are  not  hard  to  find  in  America,  when  a  person  has  a 
little  money  to  share  with  them  in  debauchery. 

"  He  grew  worse  until  his  father  refused  to  send  him  any 
more  money  to  squander,  and  in  this  condition  some  one 
brought  him  to  the  Mission.  He  was  led  to  seek  the  Lord, 
and  was  soundly  converted.  He  kept  up  a  correspondence 
with  his  father,  who  soon  discovered  by  the  general  tone  of 
his  letters  that  there  was  some  remarkable  change  in  his 
boy  for  the  better,  and  after  a  further  trial  he  received  him 
to  his  affections  again,  and  sent  him  money  with  which  to 
return  home  in  joy  and  restored  confidence.  He  came  and 
bade  us  a  tender  good-by,  and  said  he  expected  to  have 
one  of  his  father's  houses  opened  and  run  as  a  Mission  sim- 
ilar to  the  Water  Street  Mission,  as  soon  as  circumstances 
would  permit," 


78  A  Hungry  Strung r. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

% 

TROPHIES  OF  GRACE. 

"Welcome,  welcome!  sinner  here! 
Hang  not  back  through  shame  or  fear; 
Doubt  not,  nor  distrust  the  call; 
Mercy  is  proclaimed  to  all. 

"Welcome,  weeping  penitent; 
Grace  has  made  thy  heart  relent. 
Welcome,  long  estranged  child; 
God  in  Christ  is  reconciled." 

"  Another  remarkable  incident  occurred  about  this  time. 
A  gentleman  from  the  West,  afterwards  the  editor  of  the 
/—  -  Record,  came  to  New  York  on  some  mining  busi- 
ness. Being  a  drinking  man,  he  drank  to  excess,  spent 
his  money,  neglected  his  business,  and  at  last  he  became  so 
reduced  he  could  not  raise  the  price  of  a  drink,  or  even  a 
meal  to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  Famished  with 
hunger,  he  wandered  down  to  the  Battery,  where  he  saw  a 
crowd  around  a  street-preacher.  Anything  was  better  than 
to  be  alone,  with  the  craving  of  the  rum  appetite,  the 
gnawing  desires  for  food,  and  the  lashings  of  his  conscience, 
as  he  thought  of  the  cheerful  home  and  loving,  trustful 
wife  who  was  expecting  his  return,  while  he  was  wandering 
here  a  penniless,  deserted  drunkard.  He  went  toward  the 
gathering  and  took  his  seat  on  one  of  the  benches.  lie 
listened  a  while,  but  felt  no  interest.  Finally  it  seemed 


Finds  His  Way  to  the  Mission.  79 

he  could  do  without  food  no  longer,  and  turning  to  a  dirty 
tramp  who  sat  on  the  bench  beside  him,  he  asked,  '  Say, 
where  can  a 'fellow  get  something  to  eat?  I'm  dead  broke, 
and  have  had  no  food  for  several  days.'  The  tramp 
turned  toward  him  and  said,  'Why,  don't  you  know!  Why, 
go  up  to  Jerry's,  of  course  !  it's  a  big  lay-out  about  ten 
o'clock  Sunday  morning.  All  the  bums  here  take  it  in,  I 
tell  yer !  Yer  get  a  good  bowl  of  soup  and  a  chunk  o' 
bread  ;  and  say,'  he  continued,  as  he  smacked  his  lips  in 
anticipation,  '  the  soup's  got  meat  in  it  too  !  '  He  had  no 
choice  now,  so  getting  the  directions  from  his  new  acquaint- 
ance, he  came  to  the  Mission.  I  saw  him  as  soon  as  he  en- 
tered, and  picked  him  out  as  a  peculiar  case.  He  carried  a 
cane,  not  worth  pawning,  and  though  he  bore  every  mark 
of  dissipation,  a  judge  of  human  nature  could  see  in  a 
moment  that  he  had  seen  better  days.  I  walked  up  to  him 
and  received  him  cordially,  treating  him  as  a  visitor;  shook 
hands,  spoke  pleasantly,  etc.,  as  if  I  didn't  know  he  was 
dead  broke,  and  in  want.  He  looked  at  me  and  said,  '  Say, 
I'm  hungry  ;  won't  you  give  me  something  to  eat  ?' 

"  I  took  him  up  to  the  corner  of  the  table,  gave  him  a 
knife  and  fork — the  rest  had  to  go  for  it  with  their  fingers — 
and  in  half  a  minute  the  bowl  was  empty,  and  bread,  meat, 
and  all  were  devoured.  I  filled  it  the  second  time  carelessly, 
pretending  not  to  notice  his  hunger. 

"  After  he  had  eaten  sufficiently,  I  talked  with  him  about 
his  soul.  I  was  deeply  in  earnest,  and  he  felt  it,  and  finally 
broke  down,  wept,  and  prayed.  He  then  told  me  his  story, 
'  Oh,'  said  he,  in  tears,  '  I'm  a  man  that  has  a  happy  home, 
and  a  loving  wife  with  a  dear  little  child.  I  have  not  writ- 
ten home,  and  they  have  no  idea  where  I  am.  I  came  on 
here  to  see  about  some  mining  stock,  but  I  fell  into  bad 


80  A  Wife's  Sad  Search. 

company  and  took  to  drinking,  and  all  my  money  is  gone, 
and  I  dare  not  write  home  now.'  He  did  not  get  clearly 
saved,  though  he  made  some  effort  in  that  direction.  He 
left  off  drinking,  and  telegraphing  home,  his  wife  sent  him 
$100  to  return  to  Michigan  with.  I  bade  him  good-by, 
and  shook  hands  with  him  as  he  left  to  take  the  train  ;  but 
alas  for  him !  he  concluded  to  take  one  drink,  thinking  it 
no  harm  if  used  in  moderation  ;  and  the  first,  as  usual,  de- 
manded a  second,  and  he  remained  in  the  city,  and  his 
waiting  wife  and  child  were  disappointed  in  their  expecta- 
tion of  father's  return.  He  became  beastly  drunk,  and 
after  a  short  spree  found  himself  penniless  and  friendless 
again.  In  despair  he  went  and  enlisted  in  the  navy,  think- 
ing in  this  way  to  bury  himself  from  the  eyes  and  search  of 
all  his  friends,  and  at  the  same  time  be  placed  where  he 
could  not  get  hold  of  the  cause  of  all  his  trouble — the 
cursed  rum.  His  wife  waited  patiently  for  him  ;  but  failing 
to  see  or  hear  anything  of  him,  she  could  stand  the  sus- 
pense no  longer,  and  came  to  New  York  to  look  for  him. 

"She  searched  in  every  direction,  but  failed  to  find  him  ; 
and  then,  remembering  that  his  address  had  been  316 
Water  Street,  she  almost  gave  up  all  hope,  for  on  inquiring, 
she  heard  that  Water  Street  was  the  lowest,  most  wicked 
street  in  the  whole  city.  Almost  broken  hearted,  she  came 
down  to  the  Mission,  and  supposing  from  what  she  had 
heard  that  it  was  a  bad  house,  she  trembled  to  come  in 
and  make  any  inquiries.  She  decided,  after  waiting  as  long 
as  she  dared,  to  take  a  look  in  at  the  windows  anyway,  and 
shading  her  eyes  with  her  hands,  she  peered  in  through. the 
glass,  and  was  struck  to  see  right  before  her  eyes  two 
mottoes,  '  Have  Faith  in  God,'  and  '  Stand  up  for  Jesus,' 
on  the  wall.  '  Surely,'  she  thought,  '  this  cant  be  a  bad 


Seeking  her  Husband— finding  the  Saviour.      8 1 

house;  and  she  finally  mustered  up  courage  enough  to  come 
inside,  and  not  seeing  her  husband,  to  inquire  of  the  janitor, 
'  Does  Mr.  M—  -  live  here.' 

"  '  No  ma'am,'  replied  the  person  questioned  ;  '  he  did 
stop  here,  but  has  gone  home  to  his  family  out  West.' 

"  '  When  did  he  go  ?  '  she  asked  fearfully ;  the  man  an- 
swered, and  she  knew  from  the  date  mentioned  that  he 
would  have  reached  home  weeks  before  she  left  there  if 
nothing  had  happened,  and  with  a  stifled  moan  she  sank 
faint-like  on  a  seat. 

"  The  truth  now  burst  upon  her  mind  that  he  was  again  on 
one  of  those  fearful  sprees.  No  one  could  tell  her  where — 
in  the  city,  or  in  some  railroad  town  along  the  route  from 
here  to  her  home ;  no  one  could  tell  her,  whether  in  prison 
or  out,  whether  dead  or  alive;  who  could  know?  She 
thought  of  this,  and  then  of  her  deserted  home  and  little 
one  so  many  miles  away ;  and  heart-broken,  hopeless,  and 
worn  out,  she  burst  into  tears.  As  soon  as  she  could  con- 
trol herself  sufficiently  she  told  him  who  she  was,  and  then 
we  came  in  and  did  what  we  could  to  comfort  her. 

"  She  began  a  diligent  search  for  her  poor  drink-enslaved 
husband,  but  for  a  long  time  it  was  all  in  vain.  She  em- 
ployed the  best  detectives  she  could  get.  In  the  mean  time 
she  knelt,  burdened  and  sin-sick,  at  the  feet  of  Christ,  and 
was  gloriously  saved.  'Just  think  of  it,  coming  1500  miles 
to  get  converted  ! '  she  exclaimed.  Surely  God  moves  in  a 
mysterious  way.  She  continued  the  search  without  getting 
any  track  of  her  husband,  until,  becoming  completely  dis- 
couraged in  all  human  efforts,  she  took  it  all  to  God  in 
prayer  and  left  it  with  him. 

"  She  was  about  to  start  for  home,  when  Mr.  M was 

discovered  in  the  Navy  Yard.    Steps  were  immediately  taken 
6 


82  Husband  and  Wife  Saved. 

to  get  his  release,  and  they  were  surprised  to  find  so  little 
opposition  from  those  who  knew  him  there ;  but  we  soon 
learned  that  it  was  because  his  melancholy  and  despondent 
state  of  mind  unfitted  him  entirely  for  any  service ;  and  not 
only  affected  him,  but  his  comrades  also,  to  such  a  degree, 
they  too  were  made  homesick.  He  became  a  nuisance, 
and  they  were  actually  glad  to  get  rid  of  him  with  his 
blues.* 

"  The  devoted  wife  went  after  her  repentant  husband,  and 
as  soon  as  they  could  get  to  the  city  they  came  direct  to 
the  Mission,  and  bowed  together  before  God.  Such  a 
sight  was  scarcely  ever  seen  on  earth ;  and  as  the  poor  fel- 
low, amid  the  sobs  and  prayers  of  his  wife  and  the  rest  of 
us,  gave  his  heart  to  Christ,  we  felt  assured  there  was  joy 
in  the  presence  of  the  angels  of  God. 

"  He  returned  home  with  his  now  happy  companion,  and 
we  soon  heard  that  his  business  had  proved  a  success,  and 
was  bringing  him  in  a  great  deal  of  money;  his  prosperity 
proved  too  much  for  him,  however,  and  he  fell  from  his 
Christian  profession.  He  remained  in  a  backslidden  condi- 
tion but  a  short  time,  and  returned  to  the  Lord  again,  was 
fully  recovered,  and  remained  so  to  the  hour  of  his  death, 
when  he  passed  over  in  the  full  triumphs  of  faith. 

"  His  happy  death  was  an  evidence  of  God's  wonderful 
power  to  rescue  the  poor  drunkard  from  the  grip  of  sin, 
and  clean  him  up  for  heaven." 

Among  the  many  marked  and  memorable  trophies  of 
grace  was  a  man  formerly  known  as  "  Rowdy"  Brown,  the 
name  perhaps  sufficiently  indicating  the  character  of  the 
individual.  But  so  far  from  marvelling  that  such  a  man 
should  be  saved,  we  remember  that  grace  saves  the  lost. 
Our  divine  Redeemer  only  vindicates  his  name  as  such,  and 


Story  of  " Rowdy'  Brown.  83 

illustrates  the  nature  of  his  mission  on  earth,  when  he  saves 
those  lowest  sunken  in  the  degradation  of  sin.  "  Rowdy" 
Brown's  story  is  thus  told  by  Jerry: 

"  About  this  time  there  occurred  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able events  of  our  history.  There  was  a  certain  man  called 
'  Rowdy'  Brown,  a  great,  powerfully-built,  courageous  fel- 
low, who  was  a  terror  to  the  Fourth  Ward.  He  had  been 
a  mate  on  the  Liverpool  packets,  and  was  a  savage  brute. 
He  hated  religion  and  everything  belonging  to  it.  Once 
he  happened  to  see  a  man  sitting  on  the  forecastle  reading 
his  Bible,  and  without  a  word  or  sign  of  provocation,  Brown 
drew  back  his  heavy  boot  and  kicked  the  poor  fellow  square 
in  the  mouth,  knocking  his  teeth  out,  and  disfiguring  him 
cruelly.  He  went  to  California  once,  and  while  there,  it 
was  reported,  killed  several  men.  We  always  receive  such 
rumors  carefully,  knowing  how  things  grow  and  are  exag- 
gerated by  travelling  from  one  to  another ;  but  there  was 
probably  some  truth  in  the  stories,  for  when  questioned  by 
me  he  did  not  deny  them,  and  in  fact  acknowledged  that 
there  was  something  in  it  by  explaining  to  me  how  some  of 
the  cases  occurred. 

"  He  seemed  utterly  fearless  of  consequences  to  himself, 
as  he  proved  by  standing  one  day  cursing  a  man  to  his  face 
who  stood  with  a  revolver  in  each  of  his  hands,  and  fired 
both  their  contents  into  his  body.  That's  the  kind  of  man 
Rowdy  Brown  was. 

'•  He  was  stopping  at  Mr.  Rhody's  new  Sailors'  Home, 
when  he  was  told  that  one  of  his  sailor  chums  was  con- 
verted at  the  Mission.  He  was  mad  when  he  heard  of  it, 
and  swore  a  big  oath,  adding,  '  I  will  take  a  bottle  of 
whiskey  down  there,  and  when  that  feller  gets  up  to  talk, 
I'll  take  him  by  the  upper  jaw  in  one  hand  and  the  lower 


84  A  Wonder  of  Grace. 

jaw  in  the  other,  tear  his  mouth  open,  and  pour  the  whiskey 
down  him  or  break  his  back  in  the  attempt.'  And  he 
meant  it,  and  was  capable  of  doing  it. 

"  I  did  not  know  of  his  threat  or  of  his  coming,  or  I  should 
have  been  on  the  watch  for  him.  He  came  armed  with  the 
black  bottle,  and  waited  for  his  old  companion  to  testify,  in 
order  to  carry  out  his  plan.  While  waiting  he  listened,  and 
listening,  became  interested,  until  all  of  a  sudden  he  felt  a 
strange  feeling  coming  over  him,  and  he  began  to  tremble. 
He  fought  it  off  with  all  his  natural  obstinacy,  but  it  was  no 
use :  it  continued  to  grow  stronger,  and  when  his  friend 
arose  to  testify,  this  human  lion  was  as  tame  as  a  lamb. 
When  the  testimonies  were  ended,  and  sinners  were  invited 
to  come  forward,  Brown  stood  up  and  called  out  'Oh, 
pray  for  me ! ' 

"  Everything  was  in  a  state  of  quiet  but  intense  excitement 
in  a  moment,  for  many  present  knew  his  desperate  character. 
We  gathered  around  him,  and  how  he  cried  for  mercy  !  It 
was  awful  to  hear  that  man  groan  and  beg!  His  strong 
body  was  racked  with  the  anguish  of  his  soul.  He  contin- 
ued seeking  in  this  manner  until  the  meeting  closed,  but 
apparently  with  but  little  encouragement.  On  the  second 
night,  after  getting  into  his  bed,  he  was  praying  earnestly, 
when  suddenly  the  light  broke  into  his  heart,  and  he  knew  the 
work  was  done.  He  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  soon  aroused 
his  mate  who  slept  with  him,  with  his  shouts  of  praise  to 
God  for  his  pardoning  mercy.  He  became  a  diligent 
worker,  and  sometimes  in  his  earnestness  would  go  out  on 
the  street,  pick  up  a  poor  sailor,  and  almost  haul  him  into  the 
Mission.  When  the  invitation  was  given  to  those  anxious 
to  be  saved  to  rise  for  prayers,  he  would  put  his  arm  under 
theirs  and  fairly  hoist  them  up.  Melted  by  the  burning, 


A  Captain  Astounded.  85 

loving  prayers,  many  a  man  would  weep  and  yield  himself 
to  be  saved. 

"  Brown  was  liberal  with  his  means,  and  often  on  his  re- 
turn from  a  voyage  he  would  give  us  fifteen  or  twenty 
dollars  at  a  time  to  help  on  the  work. 

"  How  he  lived  his  religion  aboard  ship  and  among  his 
associates  can  be  best  told  by  relating  the  following  inci- 
dents :  He  shipped  on  one  occasion,  after  his  conversion, 
aboard  the  West  India  brig  Nellie ;  the  captain  was  ashore 
one  day  while  at  Matanzas,  and  met  an  old  acquaintance,  a 
captain  also,  whom  Brown  had  formerly  known  and  in  fact 
had  beaten  unmercifully  a  few  years  before.  After  a  few 
minutes'  conversation  the  captain  of  the  Nellie  remarked, 
'  Captain,  do  you  know  who  is  converted  ? ' 

"'No,  I  don't.' 

"  '  "  Rowdy"  Brown.' 

"  '  What ! '  exclaimed  the  other,  looking  at  his  friend  as 
if  he  thought  him  crazy,  '  Rowdy  Brown  !  '  then  adding 
slowly,  after  a  moment's  silence,  '  I  don't  believe  it.' 

"  '  Well,  he  is,  all  the  same,  and  is  aboard  my  brig  now  ! ' 

"  '  I  cant  believe  it,'  continued  the  doubter.  '  Do  you 
know  he  gave  me  a  most  unmerciful  thrashing  once,  besides 
cutting  away  my  brig  another  time  ?  He  was  a  devil;  he 
sant  be  converted.' 

"'Yes,  sir,  he  is,'  insisted  the  first,  'and  he  is  going  to 
have  a  prayer-meeting  on  board  to-night.  Come  and  attend 
it,  won't  you  ?  ' 

"  The  other  made  no  reply,  but  seemed  completely  bewil- 
dered by  the  astonishing  news  he  had  just  heard,  and  they 
parted. 

"  '  Rowdy '  Brown  had  fixed  up  the  deck  of  the  Nellie,  and 
had  a  great  canvas  stretched  for  an  awning,  with  a  sign  paint- 


86      Jerry  McAuleys  rraycr-Meeting  Aboard. 

ed,  bearing  in  large  letters,  'JERRY  McAULEY's  PRAYER- 
MEETING  HERE  THIS  AFTERNOON  AT  THREE  O'CLOCK.' 
He  would  run  the  boats  backward  and  forward,  and  bring 
off  loads  of  sailors  to  the  meeting.  A  revival  broke  but,  and 
spread  among  the  crews  of  the  different  vessels.  Gentlemen 
and  ladies  also  from  the  shore,  who  were  from  the  United 
States  but  were  living  there,  came  aboard  and  became 
deeply  interested  in  the  meetings. 

"  One  day  '  Rowdy'  Brown  went  ashore,  and,  meeting  a 
sailor  he  knew  slightly,  asked  him  to  come  to  the  meeting. 
The  man  showed  a  bitter,  hateful  spirit,  and  replied,  with  a 
sneer,  '  No,  I  wont  I '  '  Do  come,  oh  do  ! '  said  Brown 
earnestly ;  and  yielding  to  a  sudden  impulse,  before  the 
man  could  reply  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and  with  eyes  filled 
with  tears,  begged  him  to  come  to  Christ.  The  man  looked 
at  him  for  a  minute,  but  hardening  his  heart  against  those 
strange  pleadings,  growled,  '  No,  I  won't  go:  I've  been  to 
McAuley's  in  New  York,  and  he  couldn't  convert  me,  and 
you  can't  neither.' 

"  Brown  declared,  on  meeting  some  of  his  Christian  helpers 
directly  afterwards,  that  as  soon  as  that  man  said  those  words 
all  interest  for  him  left,  and  he  had  a  strange  feeling  as  if  cold 
water  had  struck  him,  and  arose  from  his  knees,  wondering 
what  it  meant.  The  next  day  the  man  who  so  bitterly  re- 
fused the  offers  of  mercy  was  working  on  a  scaffold  over 
the  side  of  his  vessel,  when  suddenly  he  was  missed  by 
some  one  who  wanted  him.  The  scaffold  was  empty ;  and 
though  the  vessel  was  searched,  he  could  not  be  found. 
Shortly  afterwards  his  body  was  discovered  through  the 
clear  water,  lying  face  downward  with  his  mouth  in  the  sand 
at  the  bottom.  He  was  fished  up,  and  a  black  bottle, 
partly  filled  with  liquor,  was  found  in  his  pocket.  He 


Dying  in  the  Faith.  87 

probably  became  drunk,  and  fell  off  the  scaffold  into  the 
water.  It  was  a  strange  affair,  and  so  affected  his  shipmates, 
who  seemed  to  think  it  was  the  voice  of  God  in  a  fearful 
providence,  that  they  became  serious,  and  the  captain  of 
the  vessel,  with  his  entire  crew,  were  brought  to  the 
Saviour. 

"  From  the  last  account  we  received  from  Brown  he  was 
doing  well,  had  secured  some  property  in  Canada,  and  was 
living  a  consistent  Christian  life.  Later  on  we  heard  of  his 
death,  and  had  every  reason  to  believe  he  died  in  the 
faith." 


A  Mistake  and  What  Cavic  of  It. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  MISTAKE  AND  WHAT  CAME  OF  IT. 

"  Sow  in  the  morn  thy  seed, 

At  eve  hold  not  thine  hand  ; 
To  doubt  and  fear  give  thou  no  heed, 
Broadcast  it  o'er  the  land. 

"  Thou  canst  not  toil  in  vain  ; 

Cold,  heat,  and  moist  and  dry, 
Shall  foster  and  mature  the  grain 
For  garners  in  the  sky." 

Before  us  lies  a  copy  of  the  "  Report  of  the  Helping  Hand 
for  Men,  316  Water  Street,  for  the  years  ending  October 
1873  and  '874,"  from  which  brief  extracts  have  already 
been  made.  It  is  of  itself  an  interesting  document,  and 
bears  upon  its  cover  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  "  Accord- 
ing to  your  faith  be  it  unto  you."  Interest  is  added  to  the 
pamphlet  by  reason  of  Jerry's  trial  of  faith  in  connection 
with  its  publication.  We  will  let  him  tell  the  story  in  his 
own  words. 

"About  this  time  (October,  1874)  something  happened 
that  proved  how  God  will  take  even  our  ignorance^  and 
blunders  and  make  them  to  glorify  him,  if  we  are  only  hon- 
est in  trying  to  serve  him.  It  was  thought  best  to  get  out 
a  report  of  the  Mission  in  order  to  let  people  know  what 
we  were  doing.  We  could  not  afford  to  get  out  an  annual 


Faith  and  Works  Illustrated.  89 

report,  and  so  we  had  to  make  one  for  every  two  years  an- 
swer. This  was  rather  new  business  to  me,  and  consider- 
ing it  a  big  undertaking,  I  thought  it  ought  to  be  done  on 
a  large  scale.  So  I  ordered  ten  thousand  copies  printed ! 
When  I  spoke  of  it  to  the  others  interested  they  were  taken 
all  aback,  and  were  almost  indignant.  '  Ten  thousand  copies  I 
Why,  Jerry,  what  are  you  thinking  about  ?  Where  is  the 
money  to  come  from  to  pay  for  such  an  amount  of  print- 
ing ? '  Of  course  I  felt  bad,  and  I  told  them  it  was  new 
business  to  me,  and  I  had  done  the  best  I  could.  They 
acted  as  though  they  felt  that  my  being  sorry  would  not 
pay  the  bills,  and  were  only  half  satisfied. 

"  In  my  trouble  I  remembered  Him  who  had  never  failed 
me  when  I  trusted  Him.  So  I  said,  '  Well,  never  mind  :  I 
have  faith  the  Lord  will  send  some  one  to  pay  it.'  I 
was  determined  now  to  make  the  best  of  it,  and  that  as 
long  as  we  had  them  on  our  hands  to  pay  for  they  should 
not  be  idle  ;  so  after  considerable  thought  I  struck  a  novel 
plan  to  use  them.  I  persuaded  Brother  Charles  Anderson 
to  help  me,  and  we  went  up-town  on  a  pilgrimage  to  get 
them  among  the  churches.  We  started  out,  each  with  a 
great  pack  of  reports  on  his  back,  to  fulfil  our  mission 
We  failed  to  lighten  our  burdens  at  the  sanctuaries,  with, 
I  believe,  but  three  exceptions — Dr.  John  Hall's,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Taylor's,  and  Dr.  Booth's  churches,  where  they  let  us 
leave  some.  I  approached  the  sexton  of  Dr.  Hall's  and 
told  him  what  I  wanted,  and  begged  him  to  assist  me.  '  I 
want  you  to  assist  me,'  I  said ;  'you  know  we  are  poor  and 
trying  to  do  good, yet  hardly  able  to  live  along;  by  just  giv- 
ing your  consent  to  let  me  lay  these  in  the  pews  before  the 
people  come  you  may  do  a  great  deal  of  good.'  He  made 
no  objections  after  a  little,  and  going  in  I  distributed  them 


90  Jerry  s  I -\iitli  Honored. 

in  the  different  pews,  and  took  my  departure,  leaving  results 
with  the  Lord.  The  next  day  a  carriage  drove  up  to  the 
Mission  door  and  two  ladies  stepped  out.  I  had  been  pray- 
ing for  help,  for  I  thought  I  had  done  some  terrible  thing 
and  was  awfully  burdened  over  getting  the  little  Mission  in 
debt.  As  I  saw  them  entering  my  heart  jumped  up  into 
my  throat.  Faith  said, '  There's  an  answer  to  your  prayer.' 
No,  thought  I,  that  can't  be,  for  they  have  not  had  time  to 
read  the  reports  yet,  unless  they  did  so  while  the  doctor 
was  preaching  or  as  soon  as  they  reached  home,  which  did 
not  seem  likely. 

"  They  came  in  and  began  to  talk  with  me,  and  I  saw  from 
their  words  that  they  had  seen  the  inside  of  the  pamphlet. 
They  handed  me  fifty  dollars  each  and  departed,  refusing 
to  give  any  names.  I  was  happy — 4  What  a  miracle  !  Ont 
hundred  dollars  /  Whew !  Three  cheers ! '  said  I,  hardly 
able  to  hold  myself  in ;  '  we're  safe  now.  Here's  the 
money.  Hurrah  ! ! '  I  needn't  add  that  my  wife  and  I  had 
a  little  praise-meeting  all  by  ourselves  right  away. 

"  A  young  lady  named  Miss  S ,  a  member  of  Dr.  John 

Hall's  church,  also  found  the  report  in  her  pew,  and  turning 
over  the  leaves  carelessly  saw  something  that  attracted  her 
attention,  and,  as  she  told  us  afterwards,  she  soon  became  so 
interested  she  didn't  get  a  word  of  the  doctor's  big  sermon, 
and  before  the  meeting  closed  she  made  up  her  mind  to 
comedown  and  see  for  herself.  She  got  an  escort,  and  came 
to  the  old  tumble-down  Mission.  After  attending  a  num- 
ber of  the  meetings  she  became  very  deeply  interested 
about  her  own  soul's  salvation.  One  Sunday  night  she  was 
there,  and  we  had  a  wonderful  meeting :  the  Lord  bared 
his  arm  there  that  night  in  power ;  everybody  felt  it,  and 
there  were  many  tears  and  sobs  as  God  touched  heart  after 


"An  Awful  Wicked  Sinner"  91 

heart  in  that  room.  While  the  meeting  was  in  progress, 

Miss  S slipped  a  beautiful  cluster  diamond-ring  from 

her  finger,  and  at  the  close  of  the  service  she  passed  it 
quietly  into  my  wife's  hands,  and  whispered  earnestly, 
'  Here,  Mrs.  McAuley,  take  this  and  sell  it  for  the  good  of 
the  Mission.  Do  pray  for  me,  won't  you  ?  I'm  an  awful 
wicked  sinner !  '  We  were  surprised  ;  such  a  beautiful, 
well-dressed  young  lady  '  an  aw  fill  sinner  !  '  and  coming  to 
be  saved  !  Why,  that  was  worth  more  than  all  the  diamond- 
rings  in  the  world  !  We  talked  with  her  the  best  we  could, 
and  she  said  as  she  left  us  that  she  would  call  the  next  even- 
ing about  tea-time. 

"  She  came  as  she  promised,  and  after  some  talk  about 
spiritual  things  she  knelt  down  alongside  the  old  sofa  and 
we  prayed  for  her,  and  before  she  arose  she  gave  her  heart 
to  Christ.  All  she  could  say  was,  '  I'm  very  unworthy,  but 
if  the  Lord' can  condescend  to  take  me,  I  will  take  him  as 
my  Saviour.' 

"  She  arose  from  her  knees  simply  trusting  in  the  Lord. 
The  hour  for  meeting  had  now  arrived,  and  as  we  started  to 
go  down-stairs  to  the  chapel  she  said,  'You  must  not  ask 
me  to  speak  in  the  public  congregation  ;  if  you  should,  it 
seems  to  me  I  should  faint.'  'All  right,'  I  answered,  'if 
you  faint,  I'll  have  some  one  ready  to  pick  you  up.' 

"  We  went  into  the  chapel  and  I  opened  the  meeting.  I 
had  scarcely  had  time  to  sit  down,  when  we  were  all  amazed 

to  see  Miss  S jump  to  her  feet,  and  with  glowing  words 

testify  to  Christ's  power  to  save.  The  Lord  blessed  her  in 
the  act,  and  blessed  her  testimony  to  the  good  of  others. 
She  has  continued  faithful,  and  has  acted  in  an  efficient 
manner  as  a  volunteer  missionary  wherever  she  has  resided 
since.  The  ring,  we  were  afterwards  told,  cost  her  three 


$2  The  Gambler  Saved. 

hundred  dollars,  but  the  Lord  gave  her  the  signet-ring  of 
adoption,  worth  a  thousand  times  more  than  all  the  dia- 
monds in  New  York. 

44  About  this  time  in  our  history  a  professional  gambler 
named  William  Fitzmorris,  supposed  to  be  the  inventor  of 
the  envelope  game,  came  to  the  Mission.  He  had  been 
keeping  a  gambling  house  up-town,  but  according  to  his 
statement,  had  to  come  down  so  heavy  to  keep  on  the  right 
side  of  the  police,  that  his  business  would  not  stand  the 
strain.  So  he  moved  into  a  new  place  in  a  basement,  and 
stationed  three  men  at  different  points  as  lookouts,  to  keep 
the  police  from  coming  on  him  unawares — finding  it 
cheaper  to  keep  three  men  under  salary  than  to  pay  the 
blackmail  he  had  been  paying  before. 

44  A  certain  notorious  policy-dealer  offered  him  three  dol- 
lars a  day  to  write  policy-slips.  How  wonderfully  God 
works,  and  how  little  we  know  what  is  to  come  of  our 
plans!  Fit/morris  accepted  the  job,  and  came  down  to  see 
about  it.  Standing  on  the  corner  he  saw  our  lamp,  and 
asked  somebody,  'What's  that?'  4  Why,  that's  Jerry 
McAuley's.  You  ought  to  take  it  in  ;  it's  as  good  as  a 
theatre.'  He  came  in  to  see  the  fun,  but  became  inter- 
ested, and  the  testimonies  melted  him  all  up  and  he  came 
forward,  knelt  down,  and  was  saved.  He  gave  some  fearful 
descriptions  of  his  terrible  business,  and  the  scenes  he  had 
witnessed  while  engaged  in  it.  He  told  how  men  of  fami- 
lies would  come  in  and  stake  little  by  little  their  earnings 
until  every  cent  was  gone  ;  then,  fascinated  by  the  game, 
they  would  strip  off  their  clothing  piece  by  piece  until  they 
could  go  no  farther ;  of  the  young  girls  sent  by  mothers 
to  buy  policy-slips  for  them, — sent  into  these  hell-holes,  amid 
the  cursing  and  obscenity  of  the  loungers  there,  by  their 


A  Dying  Testimony.  93 

own  mothers, — until  step  by  step  they  began  to  be  crazed 
over  the  game  and  would  buy  for  themselves.  From  an  ex 
periment  it  grew  to  be  a  habit,  from  a  habit  it  became  a 
passion,  and  in  the  end  they  would  sell  themselves  to  get 
money  to  gamble  with. 

"  His  revelations  were  published  in  the  daily  papers,  and 
his  old  associates  became  so  enraged  that  they  threatened 
to  kill  him. 

"  We  kept  him  with  us,  however,  and  thus  protected  him 
from  their  fury.  His  health  continued  to  fail,  and  we  ex- 
pected soon  to  have  the  sad  task  of  laying  him  in  the  grave; 
but  his  friends  came  and  took  charge  of  him,  and  by  his 
consent  removed  him  to  their  home.  He  got  no  better, 
and  it  was  plain  to  all  that  his  end  was  near.  He  did  not 
fear  death,  but  continued  strong  in  his  faith,  and  clear  in 
the  assurance  of  his  acceptance  with  God  through  Jesus 
Christ.  Finally,  when  almost  gone,  he  made  a  request  to  be 
carried  to  the  dear  old  Mission,  where  he  had  found  peace 
to  his  poor  soul,  that  he  might  there  testify  to  the  precious 
love  of  Christ  once  more.  Finding  his  heart  was  set  on  it, 
his  friends  consented,  and  he  was  brought  in  a  carriage  to 
the  Mission,  and  there,  held  up  on  his  feet  by  a  man  on 
each  side  of  him,  he  gave  his  dying  testimony. 

"  It  was  a  wonderful  time  !  It  seemed  as  if  we  stood  on 
the  steps  of  Heaven,  and  you  couldn't  hear  a  breath.  He 
stood  and,  with  feeble  voice  and  shining  face,  every  word  of 
convincing  power, gave  his  last  testimony:  'I  know  I  am  dy- 
ing •  I  knoiv  if,  and  because  I  know  it  I  came  here  to  give  my 
dying  testimony,  to  speak  once  more  in  this  hallowed  spot 
ere  my  tongue  is  silent  forever.'  You  never  can  put  on 
paper  the  tones  of  his  voice  or  the  effect  of  that  wonder- 
ful scene.  No  one  who  was  there  will  ever  forget  it." 


94  Souls  Coming  from  Far  and  Near. 

Tidings  of  the  old  Water  Street  work  have  gone  out  into 
all  the  earth,  and  fruits  of  grace  gathered  within  its  walls 
are  to  be  found  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe.  The  audi- 
ences from  night  to  night  had  always  more  or  less  of  a 
transient  nature,  and  while  often  persons  living  close  by 
despised  the  place,  men  and  women  from  afar  found  in  it  a 
beacon-light,  directing  them  into  the  haven  of  eternal  blessed- 
ness. Still  at  times  gems  for  the  Saviour's  crown  were  gath- 
ered at  its  doors.  Some  of  the  neighbors  were  converted, 
as  the  following  story  will  show.  Jerry  in  his  record  says  : 

"  The  converts  were  not  from  among  our  neighbors,  but 
were  mostly  visitors,  wanderers,  sailors,  etc.  One  or  two 
neighbors  from  across  the  street  finally  ventured  to  drop 
in.  One  case  is  well  worth  repeating.  One  night  a  beauti- 
ful little  child  about  five  years  old  came  to  the  door.  She 
was  a  lovely  little  thing,  with  bright  blue  eyes  and  long 
golden  curls — a  perfect  little  picture,  notwithstanding  the 
poor  care  she  had  received. 

"She  turned  to  the  man  at  the  door,  and  asked,  'Say, 
Mister,  won't  you  please  let  me  in  ?  I'll  be  good  if  you  will.' 
1  Oh  no,1  he  said,  looking  down  at  the  little  waif ;  '  you 
couldn't  behave.'  '  Yes  I  will ;  I'll  be  awful  good,  'cos  I 
want  to  hear  the  singing.'  He  yielded  to  her  entreaties, 
and  she  went  in,  and  folding  her  little  hands  on  her  lap  sat 
as  quiet  as  a  mouse  until  meeting  closed. 

"The  next  evening  she  came  again,  leading  by  the  hand 
another  little  girl,  younger  than  herself,  but  looking  very 
much  like  her.  She  again  asked  permission  to  go  in,  and 
having  referred  to  her  good  behavior  the  previous  night,  it 
was  granted.  They  walked  deliberately  up  to  the  very 
front  seat,  and  lifting  her  little  sister  well  up  on  the  bench, 
Mollie  sat  down  beside  her,  and  closely  watched  everything 


An  Inhuman  Mother.  95 

that  was  said  or  done.  They  behaved  beautifully,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  meeting  my  wife  kissed  them  both,  and 
then  gave  them  a  chunk  of  cake  each,  and  they  ran  out 
happy  enough.  This  happened  several  nights,  and  they 
always  got  their  kiss  and  cake. 

"  One  night  during  the  meeting  the  mother  of  the  little 
girls  came  to  the  door  drunk,  and  asked  if  the  children 
were  there.  The  man  replied  he  thought  they  were,  when 
she  said,  '  I'll  be  thankful  to  ye,  Mister,  if  ye'll  go  in  and 
kick  them  two  children  out.'  '  We  don't  do  things  that  way 
here,'  said  the  man ;  when  she  called  '  Mollie,  Mollie 
Rollins,  come  out  here ! ' 

"  Poor  little  Mollie  turned  pale  and  trembled,  and  looked 
at  me  with  such  a  frightened  look,  like  a  scared  bird.  The 
mother  screamed  out  her  name  again,  and  added,  '  I'll  give 
it  to  you,  going  in  there  with  those  black  Protestants,  you 
little  wretch  ; '  and  as  poor  Mollie  came  out,  dragging  her 
little  sister  after  her,  the  drunken  mother  caught  her  by  the 
beautiful  curly  hair,  and  flung  her  clear  off  the  ground. 
'  I'll  kill  you  if  you  go  in  there  again/  she  screamed. 
'  Do  they  give  you  any  beer  in  there,  say  ? '  The  poor 
little  thing  looked  up,  though  the  tears  were  in  her  eyes, 
and  said  :  '  O  mamma,  ain't  you  awful !  they  don't  drink 
any  beer  in  there,  and  they  don't  get  drunk  neither  ! '  The 
next  night,  just  as  service  commenced,  in  walked  Mollie  and 
Jennie  again.  '  Ain't  you  afraid  your  mother  will  kill  you  ? ' 
we  asked.  4  Oh  no,'  she  answered  quickly,  as  she  turned  her 
blue  eyes  up  to  my  face  ;  '  I  ain't  afraid.  I  like  the  singing! 
Everybody  around  the  Mission  loved  those  darlings,  and 
was  pleased  to  have  them  there.  We  missed  them  for  two 
or  three  evenings,  and  afterwards  learned  the  father  had 
returned  from  a  sea-voyage.  The  husband  and  wife  both 


96  Sheltering  the  Homeless. 

went  on  a  terrible  spree  with  the  money  he  brought,  until 
finally  he  brutally  turned  the  mother  and  little  ones  out  of 
the  house  into  the  cold  October  night-air. 

"That  night,  about  eleven  o'clock,  Mrs.  McAuley  heard 
her  name  called.  She  listened  a  moment,  and  recognized 
Mollie's  voice  calling  from  the  street, 4  Mrs.  McAuley,  O  Mrs. 
McAuley,  come  down.  I  want  to  tell  you  something.'  After 
a  minute  the  little  voice  rang  out  again  :  '  Mrs.  McAuley,  O 
Mrs.  McAuley.'  On  going  down,  my  wife  learned  that  the 
father  had  put  them  out,  and  they  had  been  on  the  roof.  As 
the  wind  blew  cold,  the  little  one  said  to  her  mother, '  Mam- 
ma, I  know  a  place  where  the  wind  won't  blow,  and  where 
we  won't  be  afraid.'  'Where's  that?'  asked  her  mother. 
'  Over  in  the  Mission/  said  the  child.  My  wife  came  up- 
stairs, saying  to  me,  '  Mrs.  Rollins  is  there  with  her  children. 
I  have  let  them  in ;  I  believe  it  may  be  the  salvation  of  that 
woman's  soul.'  We  took  them  up-stairs,  where  we  had  the 
only  accommodation  the  old  Mission-house  afforded.  It 
was  a  rickety  affair,  but  was  the  best  we  could  do.  There 
was  a  straw  tick  there,  and  a  few  old  quilts,  and  as  they 
turned  in  Mollie  looks  up  to  her  mother  and  says,  '  Thank 
God,  mother,  we  have  a  good  bed  to-night! 

"  In  the  morning  we  gave  them  their  breakfast  the  same  as 
we  had  ourselves,  and  sat  with  them  at  table.  We  never 
mentioned  anything  to  the  mother  about  her  conduct,  but 
treated  them  kindly,  and  after  breakfast  they  left.  This 
was  the  first  step  towards  reaching  that  poor  woman,  and  it 
turned  out  that  the  little  acts  of  kindness  were  not  lost. 

"  The  man  having  spent  his  money,  went  off  to  sea  again, 
but  left  the  family  his  advance-money,  and  this  was  the 
mother's  opportunity  for  another  big  spree,  and  she  made 
the  most  of  it.  She  spread  it  everywhere,  and  soon  the 


Won  by  Kindness.  97 

money  was  gone.  But  rum  must  be  had,  and  one  thing 
after  another  went  to  the  pawn-shop,  till  there  was  nothing 
left  that  would  bring  a  penny.  The  poor  children  were 
dirty  and  unwashed,  and  their  hair  was  all  matted  and 
tangled,  and  they  looked  fearful.  They  came  in  one  day, 
their  lips  blue  with  the  cold.  My  wife  warmed  them  and 
then  washed  them,  combed  out  their  hair,  and  curled  it 
beautifully  over  their  foreheads.  She  then  begged  two 
little  dresses  from  a  friend  who  had  some  small  girls ;  the 
dresses  were  somewhat  worn,  but  were  neat  and  clean,  and 
the  dear  little  things  were  happy  as  larks.  When  they 
went  over  where  their  mother  was  drinking,  she  hardly 
recognized  them.  '  Oh,'  said  she,  '  what  happened  you  ? 
Who  did  that?  '  The  rum-seller's  wife  remarked,  '  Why,  I'd 
never  known  them  ! '  '  Nor  I,'  said  the  mother ;  '  I  hardly 
knew  them  myself ;  well,  you  look  good,  anyhow.'  This 
was  the  second  blow  on  that  hard  heart. 

"  Shortly  after  this,  the  long  spree  began  to  tell  on  Mrs. 
Rollins,  and  she  was  taken  sick,  and  after  suffering  awhile, 
she  sent  Mollie  over  after  my  wife.  This  being  the  first 
move  towards  us  she  had  ever  made,  we  hailed  it  with 
joy.  My  wife  went  as  requested,  accompanied  by  a 
friend,  and  oh,  what  a  miserable  sight  met  their  eyes ! 
The  room  robbed  of  everything  movable  but  the  remains 
of  a  bed,  fragments  of  broken  dishes  scattered  all  around 
the  dirty  floor,  the  room  cheerless,  fireless,  comfortless. 
The  dishes  that  were  not  broken  were  dirty  and  piled 
every  way,  while  the  stench  of  the  neglected  room  was 
fearful.  They  found  her  stretched  with  the  horrors 
(delirium  tremens)  and  without  saying  much  to  her, 
straightened  up  the  room,  made  a  fire  after  getting  some 
coal,  and  then  the  friend  went  home  and  brought  over  a  big 


98  Bearing  the  Cross. 

pitcher  of  good  strong  hot  tea,  and  told  her  to  drink  it, 
which  she  did  in  a  hurry.  This  helped  her  somewhat,  ami 
they  talked  to  her  about  her  condition,  and  pointed  her  to 
the  Lamb  of  God  for  help,  and  prayed  with  her. 

"These  acts  of  kindness  were  the  hardest  blow  of  all  to 
her  prejudices,  and  she  broke  down  and  said,  '  If  ever  I  get 
well  of  this  spell  I'm  going  to  come  over,  Mrs.  McAuley, 
and  see  you  at  the  Mission.' 

"  She  got  well,  and  one  night  she  came  into  the  Mission 
during  the  meeting.  We  were  singing  the  '  Stone  rolled 
away,'  when  she  screamed  right  out,  and  starting  from  her 
seat,  ran  through  the  kitchen,  thinking  to  get  out  that  way. 
My  wife  followed  quickly  and  caught  her,  and  then  kneel- 
ing down,  beside  her,  prayed  earnestly  with  the  poor  sob- 
bing creature.  She  found  the  Lord's  help,  and  He  so 
sweetly  saved  her,  that  it  was  apparent  to  all. 

"  At  first  she  used  to  put  an  old  shawl  around  her  head  and 
draw  it  well  over  her  face,  and  then  go  around  the  block 
before  entering  the  Mission,  to  keep  the  neighbors  from 
recognizing  her ;  but  afterwards  she  would  walk  straight 
across  the  street  to  and  from  her  home,  singing  the 
4  Stone  rolled  away.' 

"  She  was  bitterly  persecuted,  because  she  was  a  turncoat 
as  they  termed  it.  Her  door  was  broken  in,  slops  were 
thrown  over  her,  and  they  even  caught  the  poor  little 
children  and  beat  them,  hoping  to  enrage  her,  and  thus 
make  her  return  to  drink  again. 

"  The  errors  of  her  past  life  began  to  tell  on  her,  and  she 
became  very  ill  with  consumption.  The  people  she  had 
spent  all  her  money  with  would  not  do  anything  for  her,  and 
we  took  her  to  Dr.  Cullis'  Home  for  Consumptives  in  Boston. 
We  went  with  her,  and  left  her  in  the  good  doctor's  care.  She 


A  Funeral  at  the  Mission.  99 

grew  gradually  worse,  until  almost  at  death's  door.  She  had 
a  dream  or  vision  one  day,  in  which  she  thought  every  one 
had  forsaken  her :  even  we  had  ceased  to  love  her,  and  God 
had  forgotten  her,  but  suddenly  she  heard  a  voice,  '  I 
won't  leave  you.  I'll  be  with  you  all  the  time.'  And  she 
was  encouraged.  She  also  thought  that  Mrs.  McAuley 
stood  by  her  bedside,  and  she  felt  relieved.  Dr.  C.  wrote 
us  to  come  on  if  we  wanted  to  see  her  alive,  and  we  went 
immediately  to  Boston. 

"  My  wife  walked  in  and  stood  by  the  bed,  and  when  the 
poor  invalid  opened  her  eyes  she  smiled  faintly,  and  said, 
'That  is  just  where  I  saw  you  stand,'  and  she  reached  up 
and  clasped  her  poor  bony  arms  around  my  wife's  neck,  and 
oh!  such  a  scene  I  never  witnessed  before.  I  could  not 
stand  it,  and  went  out  of  the  room  and  let  them  sob  away ; 
but  I  heard  her  murmur,  '  Oh  how  I  love  you  both  !  I  love 
you  better  than  my  own  children.'  This  more  than  paid 
us  for  all  our  efforts.  The  next  day  she  passed  over  in  the 
triumphs  of  faith  and  redeeming  love.  Before  she  died  she 
expressed  a  desire  to  visit  that  place  in  Water  Street 
where  God  spoke  peace  to  her  soul,  and  added,  "  Dead 
or  alive,  I  want  to  be  under  that  blessed  roof  once  more." 
In  accordance  with  this  wish,  her  body  was  brought  on  to 
the  Mission  for  burial. 

"  There  was  a  very  large  turnout  to  the  funeral  services, 
and  a  stranger  gathering  never  was  seen.  There  were  pres- 
ent many  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  the  first  circles  of  so- 
ciety, and  there  were  several  of  Mrs.  Rollins'  old  comrades, 
some  of  them  dragging  their  children  with  them  to  get  a  last 
look  at  the  face  of  their  late  acquaintance.  Many  of  those 
parents  were  confirmed  drunkards  of  the  lowest  type,  and  had 
entered  this  Mission  for  the  first  time  in  their  lives ;  yet  all 
this  seemed  forgotten  in  the  presence  of  the  dead/' 


ioo  The  Queen  of  Frauds. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

EVIL  SCHEMES  FRUSTRATED. 

"  Their  hearts  shall  not  be  moved 

Who  in  the  Lord  confide  ; 
But  firm  as  Zion's  hill, 

They  ever  shall  abide  ; 
As  mountains  shield  Jerusalem, 
The  Lord  shall  be  a  shield  to  them." 

While  possessed  of  a  native  shrewdness  which,  sanctified 
as  it  was,  helped  him  much  in  his  work,  Jerry  did  not  for- 
get to  seek  for  wisdom  from  on  high.  But  for  this  he 
would  no  doubt  have  been  deceived  to  his  cost  again  and 
again.  As  it  was,  the  Lord  cared  for  his  servant,  and  the 
well-planned  devices  of  the  enemy  were  constantly  frustrated. 
One  or  two  cases  Jerry  thought  worthy  of  record,  and  they 
are  appended. 

"We  have  met  a  great  many  frauds  while  engaged  in  this 
work,  but  the  greatest  of  all — the  very  Queen  of  frauds — 
appeared  in  our  history  one  time,  and  I  have  no  doubt  if  the 
Lord  himself  had  not  overthrown  her  designs  a  terrible  re- 
proach would  have  been  put  upon  both  my  wife  and  me,  and 
we  might  have  been  entirely  ruined  and  our  work  broken  up. 

"  We  were  down  at  Asbury  Park  for  a  few  days'  rest  when 
this  creature  came  upon  the  stage  of  action.  Brother  and 
Sister  S.  had  been  to  their  regular  services  at  the  John  Street 
Church,  and  were  on  their  way  home  to  Williamsburg,  when 
they  thought  they  would  stop  into  the  Mission  for  a  few 


A  Plausible  Story.  101 

minutes,  inquire  after  our  health,  and  get  a  drink  of  ice- 
water  or  lemonade.  They  had  talked  awhile  with  the  jani- 
tor, and  were  just  going  away,  it  being  after  ten  o'clock, 
when  there  was  a  sudden  rap  at  the  outside  door.  When 
the  janitor  opened  it  he  found  a  fine-looking  young  woman 
standing  there.  He  let  her  in,  and  then  the  visitors  lis- 
tened to  her  story. 

"  The  girl  stated  that  she  was  homeless  and  friendless,  and 
being  at  a  loss  where  to  go  had  stepped  up  to  a  policeman, 
a  few  moments  before  knocking  at  our  door,  and  inquired 
of  him  where  she  could  find  a  respectable  night's  lodging. 
He  did  not  treat  her  properly,  she  said,  and  turning  from 
him  she  raised  her  eyes  and  saw  the  Mission.  She  knew 
she  would  be  safe  with  Christian  people,  and  so  without 
hesitation  knocked  at  the  door. 

"  Her  previous  history  was  a  sad  one,  and  our  friends 
listened  to  it  with  the  deepest  interest  and  sympathy.  Her 
father,  she  said,  had  been  wealthy  up  to  a  short  time  before 
his  death,  and  when  he  died  he  left  her  $3700  in  care  of 
her  brother,  who  was  older  than  she  was.  The  brother 
became  intimate  with  the  son  of  a  rich  gentleman  where  he 
boarded,  who  was  a  fast  young  man  and  soon  led  him  into 
dissipation.  His  constitution,  not  strong  at  best,  gave 
way  under  his  excesses,  and  he  went  into  hasty  consump- 
tion, and  soon  died.  Just  before  his  death  he  gave  his 
sister's  money  to  this  young  associate  to  turn  over  to  her. 
The  man  promised  faithfully  to  carry  out  the  dying  request 
of  his  late  comrade,  but  as  soon  as  the  latter  was  laid  in  his 
grave  he  went  on  a  long  spree,  and  kept  it  up  until  the 
money  was  all  gone,  his  own  health  broken,  and  he  also 
brought  to  death's  door. 

"  When  he  died  all  hope  of  ever  getting  her  money  van- 


IO2  Suspicions  Aroused. 

ished,  as  the  father  refused  to  be  held  for  the  debt.  In  this 
condition  she  wandered  around  until  she  knocked  at  the 
Mission  door  for  protection.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  S.  were  greatly 
interested  in  her  story,  and  when  she  concluded  they  pro- 
ceeded to  find  a  place  where  she  could  stay  until  morning, 
as  it  would  not  do,  on  account  of  the  speech  of  the  people, 
to  leave  her  there  alone  with  the  janitor  for  the  remainder 
of  the  night. 

"  After  a  great  deal  of  trouble  they  found  accommodations 
for  her  and  went  home.  She  paid  her  own  bills,  and  after- 
wards got  a  boarding-place  in  Monroe  Street,  and  came  to 
the  meetings  every  night. 

"  We  came  home  about  this  time,  and  supposing,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  they  had  investigated  the  matter,  we  took  her 
into  our  confidence  and  did  all  we  could  for  her. 

"  My  wife  felt  a  little  uneasy  sometimes  about  Jessie,  as 
she  called  herself,  and  then  blaming  herself  for  her  sus- 
piciousness,  treated  her  more  kindly  than  before. 

"  My  eyes  began  to  be  opened  after  a  while  by  some  of  her 
actions  when  off  her  guard.  Once  when  my  wife  and  I 
were  talking  about  coming  to  Thirty-second  Street  to  open 
the  Cremorne  Mission,  the  girl  overheard  us,  and  exclaimed, 
without  thinking,  '  Oh,  good  !  I'm  glad  of  it ;  I'm  well  ac- 
quainted up  there  around  the  Cremorne  Gar '  She 

caught  herself  suddenly,  but  her  prudence  came  too  late. 
I  was  looking  her  square  in  the  eyes,  and  saw  her  confusion 
like  a  flash.  I  said  nothing,  however,  until  she  left  the 
room,  when  I  turned  to  my  wife  and  remarked,  'She  is 
from  that  neighborhood  after  all.'  This  put  us  on  our 
guard,  but  we  feared  to  do  her  injustice  or  hurt  her  feelings 
by  showing  any  suspicions  until  we  were  certain  that  she 
was  playing  a  game. 


Delusive  Promises.  103 

"  She  came  running  in  one  day  shortly  after,  and  appeared 
in  great  glee  as  she  exclaimed,  '  Oh,  good  news  !  good 
news!  I've  got  word  from  that  father,  and  he  is  going  to 
pay  me  back,  with  interest,  the  full  amount  his  son  squan- 
dered for  me  !  I'll  tell  you  what  I'll  do,'  she  continued 
excitedly,  '  I'll  give  it  all  to  you  to  start  that  mission  up  in 
Thirty-second  Street.  Won't  that  be  grand  ?  '  I  heard  her 
words,  saw  her  earnest  and  apparently  honest  manner,  and 
she  seemed  so  enthusiastic  and  generous,  I  began  to  believe 
in  her  again,  and  to  scold  myself  for  my  suspicions.  Of 
course  I  was  glad  to  hear  her  offer  of  the  money,  for  I  was 
then  very  much  exercised  about  how  I  was  to  get  the 
means  to  open  the  expected  mission  up-town.  I  intended 
to  put  a  mortgage  on  a  little  property  I  owned,  and  put  in 
all  my  own  available  cash,  with  what  I  could  raise  in  other 
ways  ;  but  all  this  would  be  far  too  little  for  even  a  fair 
start.  Here,  thought  I,  is  the  whole  thing  all  worked  out  for 
us !  I  now  proposed  to  myself  to  accept  her  offer,  and 
secure  her  by  the  proposed  lien  on  my  property  until  the 
first  anniversary,  when  it  would  be  an  easy  matter  to  return 
her  the  money  again  with  interest.  The  skies  looked  all 
bright  again  for  my  proposed  Thirty-second  Street  Mission. 

" '  When  will  you  go,'  I  asked  her  after  a  while,  '  to 
receive  the  money?' 

"  '  Oh,'  she  replied,  '  in  about  three  weeks  from  to-day  I 
will  take  you  and  Mrs.  McAuley  with  me,  and  we  will  go 

over  and  get  it,  bring  it  to  Mr.  H ,  and  take  a  receipt 

for  it.  We  can  then  draw  it  as  we  want  to.'  After  the 
three  weeks  had  gone  by,  and  she  made  no  move  to  go 
after  it,  I  asked  the  reason,  and  she  answered,  '  Oh,  I've 
concluded  to  get  it  expressed  to  my  boarding  house,  and 
then  take  it  to  the  banker's.'  I  thought  it  strange  that 


104  A  Well-laid  Plot. 

she  would  have  so  large  an  amount  sent  to  a  boarding- 
house,  but  held  my  tongue,  determined  to  hide  my  sus- 
picions until  the  proper  time.  Shortly  afterwards  came  the 
closing  of  the  plot. 

"  She  came  in  one  evening,  and  told  us  the  money  had 
been  sent  over  as  proposed,  and  was  now  at  the  house  in 
Monroe  Street,  all  done  up  in  envelopes.  'All  right,'  I 
answered  ;  4  as  soon  as  meeting  is  over  we  will  go  down 
and  get  it.' 

"  The  meeting  went  on  as  usual,  and  after  it  was  over  we 
started  out  with  her  to  bring  home  the  three  or  four  thou- 
sand dollars! 

"  We  went  together  to  the  house,  and  leaving  us  standing 
on  the  sidewalk  she  went  into  the  house  to  get  the  money. 
I  felt  a  misgiving  that  she  would  not  come  out  again,  or 
that  we  were  in  some  way  having  a  job  put  up  on  us,  and 
turning  to  my  wife,  as  the  front  door  closed  upon  our 
guide,  I  said,  'There  she  goes,  and  we  will  see  her  no 
more.'  '  Yes,  we  will  see  her  again,'  was  the  positive 
reply ;  and  sure  enough,  in  a  little  while  out  came  the 
lady  with  the  packages  of  envelopes  ! 

" '  Have  you  got  it  ?'  I  asked,  when  she  reached  the  pave- 
ment. 

" '  Yes ;  it's  here  all  right,'  she  replied.  '  Here  it  is,' 
(handing  a  package  to  my  wife).  '  It's  all  done  up  correct, 
and  in  good  shape.' 

"  '  All  right,'  I  answered,  pushing  the  package  back  into 
her  hands.  '  You  keep  it,  and  walk  ahead  with  Mrs. 
McAuley,  and  I'll  follow  close  behind  and  protect  you  if 
needed.'  The  fact  that  she  wanted  one  of  us  to  carry  the 
valuable  package  struck  me  as  rather  strange,  and  I  was 
determined  to  be  on  the  look-out  for  any  plot  that  might 


The  Plot  Developed.  105 

have  been  cooked  up  to  get  us  into  trouble  or  entrap  us, 
and  then  say  we  had  appropriated  the  money.  So,  satisfying 
myself  that  my  revolver  was  all  right,  in  good  condition, 
and  handy  if  needed,  I  followed  them  slowly,  watching 
carefully  every  dark  alley  and  doorway,  and  every  sharp  cor- 
ner, thinking  that  at  any  minute  some  fellow  might  spring 
suddenly  upon  us  as  we  passed  through  that  dangerous 
locality.  The  whole  thing  seemed  so  odd,  that  I  felt  pretty 
sure  there  was  to  be  some  strange  ending  to  it  all,  for  the 
idea  had  grown  upon  me  that  there  was  some  deep-laid  plot 
against  us  to  injure  our  work,  and  I  was  determined  not  to 
be  caught  napping.  Whether  she  was  afraid  to  give  the 
signal,  seeing  we  were  so  fully  on  our  guard,  or  not,  I  can't 
say,  but  anyway  there  was  no  attempt  at  harming  us,  and 
we  reached  the  Mission  in  safety.  Calling  in  one  other  as  a 
witness,  I  turned  to  the  girl  and  said : 

"  '  Now,  Jessie,  I  want  you  to  stand  where  you  are  and 
open  those  packages,  and  show  us  the  money  before  this 
witness.' 

"  '  Oh,  it's  all  here  !  '  she  replied  ;  and  then  fumbling  over 
the  envelopes  as  if  examining  their  contents,  she  continued  : 
'  Yes,  it's  all  right — in  checks — and  you  take  it  just  as  it  is. 
We  won't  count  it  now,  it  is  so  late  and  we're  all  so  tired. 
We  can  all  come  together  the  first  thing  in  the  morning, 
and  count  it  out  all  right.' 

.  "  '  Pull  them  out,  and  count  them  now,  before  we  go  to  bed,' 
I  exclaimed,  as  I  saw  like  a  flash  of  lightning  through  the 
whole  dodge.  '  You  can't  leave  that  package  in  our  care 
and  then  ruin  us  by  swearing  in  the  morning  that  we  stole 
the  money  out  during  the  night.  Open  them  !  quick! ' 

"  She  trembled  like  a  leaf,  and  the  packages  on  t>eing 
opened  were  found  to  have  nothing  in  them  I 


106  The  Exposure. 

lt '  Who  put  you  up  to  that  infernal  trick  ? '  I  said  to  her 
sternly  as  I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  her  face.  '  Come,  out  with 
it ;  whose  plan  is  it  ?  Everything  else  having  failed,  this 
was  the  last  hope,  was  it  ? ' 

"  She  refused  to  answer,  however ;  nor  could  we  ever  learn 
positively  who  was  at  the  bottom  of  it.  I  shall  always  be- 
lieve, however,  that  it  was  a  put-up  job.  Thus  did  the 
dear  Lord  interfere  again  to  save  us  from  the  plots  of  our 
unprincipled  enemies,  as  He  had  done  before  and  has  so 
many  times  since. 

"The  girl,  seeing  she  was  caught  beyond  escape,  got 
awfully  scared  at  the  prospect  of  arrest  and  imprisonment, 
and  broke  down,  sobbing  and  crying  like  a  child.  She  made 
some  acknowledgments,  but  refused  to  give  any  names. 
She  wept  bitterly  ;  and  what  do  you  suppose  we  did  then  ? 
Knelt  right  down  there  and  prayed  for  her,  with  our  own 
hearts  all  melted  up  with  gratitude  to  God  for  the  wonder- 
ful deliverance  He  had  just  wrought  out  for  us,  and  cared 
for  her  until  she  could  get  ready  to  leave." 

Those  who  knew  Jerry  best  will  recognize  him  readily  in 
the  following  incident,  given  in  his  words : 

"A  fellow  came  in  one  day  shaking  all  over  as  if  he  had 
the  palsy.  He  trembled  like  a  leaf  from  head  to  foot. 

"  'What's  the  matter?'  said  I. 

"  '  Oh,  the  Lord  sent  me  here  ? ' 

" '  I  don't  know  whether  He  did  or  not,'  I  returned ; 
for  he  looked  like  a  dead  beat ;  '  did  no  one  else  send 
you  ?' 

"'Yes,'  he  answered  slowly,  pulling  a  dirty  crumpled 
paper  from  his  pocket,  which  he  had  probably  carried  about 
six  months.  I  looked  at  him  sharply,  when  he  exclaimed, 


Not  Ready  to  Die.  107 

'  Oh,  help  me — I've  got  the  horrors — I'm  almost  dead — do 
help  me ! ' 

"  I  pitied  the  poor  fellow,  so  I  took  him  in  without  further 
questioning,  led  him  up-stairs  and  put  him  to  bed,  called 
a  doctor,  and  did  all  I  could  for  him.  I  could  not  do  much 
with  him  spiritually,  for  he  claimed  to  be  a  Christian  and 
'  all  right.'  '  It  is  true,'  he  said,  '  I  drink  a  little,  but 
they  all  do  that  where  I  came  from.'  He  was  taken  worse 
one  day  and  was  so  cramped  that  he  was  sure  that  he 
was  going  to  die  right  off.  '  Oh,  oh,'  he  screamed,  '  I'm 
going  to  die  ! '  I  knew  he  wasn't  in  a  very  bad  way,  so  con- 
cluded to  improve  my  opportunity. 

*  '  Oh,  you're  all  right,  you  know ;  you'll  only  go  to  heaven 
any  way  ! ' 

"  '  Oh,  but  I  can't  die  so! 

'"Oh,  yes,'  I  continued,  'you  can;  it  isn't  hard  for  a 
Christian  to  die,  you  know ! ' 

" '  Oh,  oh  !  help  me !     I'm  dying ! ' 

"  '  Why,  you  ought  to  be  happy ;  why  don't  you  sing?' 

"  '  Oh  !  oh  !  ' 

"  '  It's  glorious,  ain't  it,  to  be  a  Christian  ?  ' 

'"Oh!  oh!' 

"  '  Why,  my  friend,  you  ain't  scared,  are  you  ?  '  And  so  I 
talked  with  him  in  this  way  until  he  became  ashamed,  and 
then  I  said  to  him  soberly,  '  Now,  my  friend,  you  ought  to 
get  right  with  God.  Just  see  how  frightened  you  were 
when  the  first  pain  touched  you.  Oh,  why  don't  you  get 
saved  ? '  I  failed  to  get  him  out  clear,  though  he  claimed 
to  be  grateful,  and  made  great  promises  of  help  to  the  Mis- 
sion when  he  got  well.  One  day  he  left,  and  we  supposed 
he  had  gone  for  good,  when  a  few  days  afterwards  in  he 


io8  An  Impostor. 

walked  with  a  bundle  of  dirty  clothes  under  his  arm.  When 
I  approached  him  he  said : 

"  '  Jerry,  the  Lord  sent  me  to  you  to  have  these  clothes 
washed  ! ' 

"  '  Did  he  ?'  said  I.  '  Well,  the  Lord  sent  me  to  fire  you 
out ; '  and  out  he  went  like  a  rocket — dirty  clothes  and  all." 


The  Cremorne  Mission.  109 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  CREMORNE   MISSION. 

"  E'er  since,  by  faith,  I  saw  the  stream 

Thy  bleeding  wounds  supply, 
Redeeming  love  has  been  my  theme, 
And  shall  be  till  I  die." 

far  we  have  spoken  only  of  Jerry's  labors  in  the 
Water  Street  Mission.  For  over  two  years  previous  to 
his  death  he  carried  on  a  similar  work  in  the  Cremorne 
Mission  at  104  West  Thirty-second  Street.  Of  the  origin 
of  that  work  he  once  said  to  a  reporter  : 

"  Dr.  Talmage  was  the  first  one  that  started  me  to  think- 
ing about  it.  That  was  over  two  years  ago.  Dr.  Talmage 
had  been  around  the  dives  and  seen  what  was  going  on  and 
preached  about  it,  you  know.  I  had  been  around  New 
York  some,  and  I  thought  I  knew  the  worst  places  in  it ;  but 
I  was  mistaken,  for  I'd  never  seen  anything  so  bad  as  this 
neighborhood.  The  first  time  I  found  out  what  it  was 
really  like  happened  this  way:  There  was  a  fellow  they 
called  Happy  Joe  came  up  one  night  and  got  a  little  full, 
and  began  to  sing  a  hymn  he'd  heard  down  at  our  Water 
Street  place  ;  and  at  last  he  said,  '  Let's  have  a  Jerry 
McAuley  prayer-meeting,  right  here ! '  Well,  the  girls 
jumped  at  the  idea,  and  he  took  me  off,  and  made  fun  of 
the  whole  thing.  Well,  sir,  that  blaspheming  rascal  was 
the  cause  of  my  coming  here !  Those  girls  were  so  inter- 


no  Seeking  the  Lord's  Way. 

ested  from  his  description  that  two  of  them  came  down  to 
Water  Street  in  a  carriage  to  our  meetings,  and  then  often 
came.  One  of  them  came  to  me  afterwards  and  wanted 
me  to  help  find  her  sister,  who  had  got  into  some  bad  place 
up-town,  she  was  afraid.  Mrs.  McAuley  and  I  got  inter- 
ested, and  we  came  up  to  look  for  the  girl's  sister.  We 
started  in  at  Bleecker  Street,  took  in  '  The  '  Allen's,  Harry 
Hill's,  '  Wes'  Allen's,  and  all  the  rest  there,  and  came  up 
and  went  to  nearly  all  the  Sixth  Avenue  dives.  Before  we 
got  through  I  made  up  my  mind  that  this  was  a  worse 
place  than  Water  Street,  and  resolved,  if  the  Lord  would 
help  me,  to  start  a  Mission  up  here.  I  finally  fixed  on  this 
place,  because  it  was  about  the  worst  I  could  find." 

Mrs.  McAuley  says:  "We  felt  that  our  work  in  Water 
Street  was  done,  and  the  time  had  come  when  we  ought  to 
make  a  change.  After  this  visit  it  seemed  to  us  that  the 
cry  went  up  to  heaven  for  a  mission  here,  that  some  of  the 
hundreds  of  young  men  and  women  frequenting  these  dens 
and  dives  might  be  saved.  We  went  home  and  prayed  God 
if  he  wanted  us  up  here  to  open  the  way  ;  and  if  he  didn't 
want  us  here  to  put  up  a  barrier  so  high  we  couldn't  climb  over 
it.  After  many  prayers  and  tears  and  with  much  fear  and 
trembling,  we  found  a  place.  Then  we  asked  God  if  he 
wished  us  to  come,  to  send  the  means  that  day.  The  answer 
came,  and  soon  we  had  $9000.  Then  a  number  of  Christian 
gentlemen  were  invited  to  become  trustees,  and  the  place 
was  fitted  up  and  the  work  commenced." 

In  June,  1883,  Jerry  felt  led  to  commence  the  publication 
of  a  journal  which  he  named  Jerry  McAuley  s  Newspaper, 
and  which  continues  to  be  issued  every  month.  It  contains 
in  its  columns  accounts  of  the  Crcmorne  and  other  Mission 
meetings  in  New  York,  with  the  testimonies  of  converts, 


CREMORNE  McAULEY  MISSION,', 
104  West  32d  Street,  near  Sixth  Avenue,  New  York. 


Jerry  Me  A  u  leys  Testimonies.  in 

just  as  they  are  uttered  in  the  meetings.  From  among 
these  we  have  culled  a  handful  of  Jerry's  own  testimonies. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  more  of  them  have  not  been  re- 
corded. Those  of  them  in  print  we  give  without  comment. 


MISTAKEN  PROPHETS. 

I  never  undertook  anything,  but  the  prophets  said, 
"  Jerry,  you've  made  a  mistake."  When  I  started  the  Water 
Street  Mission,  none  of  these  wise  fellows  would  come  near 
me  for  a  while.  One  man  said  :  "  Well,  if  it's  a  success,  I'll 
give  you  $25."  "  Yes,"  I  thought ;  "  if;"  and  if  they  were  all 
like  you  it  could  not  be  a  success."  When  I  came  up-town 
they  said  again,  "  Now  Jerry  has  made  the  mistake  of  his 
life."  Even  some  of  the  trustees  objected,  and  said,  "  Water 
Street  Mission  will  go  down  if  Jerry  leaves," — as  if  Jerry 
McAuley  was  anything,  or  that  God  couldn't  do  without 
me.  Not  so.  This  Mission  would  just  run  on  the  same  if 
I  should  die  to-morrow  morning.  Why  if  any  of  you  has 
the  money  I'll  go  and  start  a  Mission  right  away  at  a  place 
over  here  called  "  Hell's  Kitchen,"  and  another  somewhere 
else,  and  they  would  all  be  full,  and  God  would  save  souls. 
Now  you  want  to  tell  the  story  just  as  it  is — if  God  has 
taken  you  out  of  a  dirty  hole,  say  so. 


COMMENCING  THE  WATER-STREET  WORK. 

When  I  first  wrent  into  a  meeting  it  was  during  the  John 
Allen  excitement.  They  asked  whoever  wanted  prayers  to 
stand  up.  "  Well,"  thinks  I,  "  them  fellows  can't  hurt  me 
praying  for  me;"  so  I  stood  up,  and  here  I  am  to-day.  I 
didn't  go  off  to  Harlem  then,  or  some  other  place  where  no 
one  knew  me,  to  start  a  Mission  and  work  for  God,  but  I 


1 1 2  The  Beginning  in  Water  Street. 

went  right  to  work  where  I  was  well  known.  I  went  to  a  cer- 
tain minister,  and  he  said : 

"  Why,  you  are  wild,  Jerry,  to  try  and  start  a  Mission 
down  there.  Why,  they'll  kill  you  the  first  thing,  and  fire 
you  and  the  old  benches  out  doors  together." 

"  Well,"  I  replied,  "  let  them !  I've  taken  and  given  a 
good  many  hard  knocks  for  the  devil,  and  I  think  I  can 
stand  and  take  a  few  for  the  dear  Lord  Jesus ;  so  I  shall 
start  right  there  where  I  am  most  needed,  and  where  no 
one  else  wants  to  go." 

"  Well,  go  on  then,  if  you  must,  and  here  is  five  dollars 
for  you  anyway,  and  God  bless  you." 

And  we  went  to  work.  I  got  five  or  six  of  us  up  in 
one  corner  of  that  old  house,  and  we  roared  away  on 
"  Rock  of  Ages,"  and  "  There  is  a  fountain  filled  with 
blood  ;"  that's  all  we  knew.  We  didn't  know  high  metre 
from  low  metre,  but  we  went  at  it  with  all  our  might,  for 
we  meant  it.  No  one  came  in  for  quite  a  while,  when  finally 
I  discovered  the  reason :  the  old  man  I  had  at  the  door 
wouldn't  let  any  one  in.  He  had  the  door  locked,  and  kept 
them  all  out.  He  wasn't  going  to  let  any  of  those  bad 
characters  in  to  disturb  our  meeting — not  he.  We  had  some 
strange  work,  but  see  the  results.  The  Water  Street  Mis- 
sion is  alive  to-day,  with  a  number  of  branches  in  this  coun- 
try and  in  England.  The  Cremornc  Mission  stands  to-day 
as  a  branch  of  the  old  Water  Street,  and  there  are  several 
branches  from  this  one  already. 


CONFESSING  FOR  CHRIST'S  SAKE. 

There  are  a  great  many  here  to-night  whom  the  Lord  has 
made  happy.     Many  more  have  happy  homes  who  at  one 


The  Story  to  Tell.  113 

time  had  no  home  at  all.  We  owe  a  great  debt  of  grati- 
tude. Just  see  what  comforts  I  am  surrounded  with!  See 
my  happy,  comfortable  home,  see  all  the  dear  kind  friends 
I  have  now  ;  yet  this  was  not  always  so.  I  once  lived  a 
crooked  life,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,so,  but  for  Jesus'  sake  I 
confess  it.  It  serves  to  keep  me  humble  to  refer  to  what  I 
was.  It  keeps  pride  down  and  crucifies  the  flesh.  If  we 
humble  ourselves  the  Lord  says  He  will  lift  us  up  ;  but  if 
we  exalt  ourselves  He  will  cast  us  down.  If-  we  lift  our- 
selves up  we  will  soon  fall.  Now,  let  each  of  you  be 
prompt  to  testify  for  God  to  the  things  you  know  of  his 
dealings  with  your  souls. 

THE   STORY  TO  TELL. 

Did  you  ever  read  in  the  Bible  about  that  fellow  in  the 
tombs?  He  tore  all  his  clothes  off  and  broke  his  chains,  and 
nobody  could  help  him.  But  Jesus  came  along  and  saved 
him,  and  put  a  new  suit  of  clothes  on  him,  shoes  and  all — 
no  second-handed  things;  but  what  did  the  fellow  do? 
Why,  I  expect  he  straightened  up  his  coat  collar  and  put 
on  a  white  choker  and  said,  "Well,  I  guess,  Lord,  I'll  go 
along  with  you  and  have  a  good  easy  time,  and  folks  will 
think  I'm  respectable  !"  But  Jesus  said  to  him,  "  Go  back 
among  the  people  that  knew  what  a  miserable  old  tramp  you 
were,  and  tell  them  what  wonderful  things  God  has  done  for 
you."  And  I  can  imagine  I  see  him  go  back  and  get  up  on 
an  old  barrel,  and  tell  the  people  what  a  miserable  wretch 
he  was  until  Christ  found  him. 


POWER   OF   TESTIMONY. 


Some  folks  get  wonderful  pretty  and  precise,  and  afraid 
to  tell  what  God  has  done  for  them  ;  and  some  poor  listen- 


114  Saved  through  Testimony. 

ing  soul,  hearing  these  nice  kid-gloved  sinners  talk,  says  to 
himself  as  he  starts  to  go  out,  "  They  are  a  lot  of  pretty 
cranks,  with  their  soft  talk,"  when  just  then  some  hon- 
est soul  will  get  up  and  say,  "  I  was  a  hard  case  ;"  then  the 
poor  fellow  going  out  stops  and  listens  to  catch  every  word  ; 
and  as  the  man  goes  on  to  tell  his  story,  the  other  sits 
down  interested,  gets  all  broken  up,  as  he  thinks,  "  That's 
just  where  I  am  to-night ;"  and  soon  the  tears  begin  to  run 
down  his  cheeks,  and  the  next  thing  he  is  forward  for 
prayers,  then  takes  his  place  in  the  congregation  to  tell  the 
old,  old  story,  so  new  to  him.  Love  testimony?  [he  contin- 
ued.] I  guess  I  do.  That  man  there  [pointing  to  Orville 
Gardner]  came  to  prison  where  I  was  under  sentence  of 
fifteen  years,  and  told  how  God  saved  him.  I  knew  what 
he  was  before,  and  I  got  all  broken  up,  and  went  back  to 
my  cell,  got  on  my  knees,  and  Christ  saved  me.  Always 
give  your  testimony  just  as  it  is. 

NO    HALF-HEARTED  RELIGION. 

God  has  saved  me.  I  was  almost  a  tramp ;  but  see  the 
difference  to-night.  He  has  taken  the  appetite  for  that 
frightful  rum  away.  I  remember  living  in  a  basement  over 
in  Brooklyn  without  even  a  chair  or  a  bed  in  it ;  in  fact,  we 
didn't  have  anything:  yet  He  has  taken  us  up,  washed  us, 
and  made  us  clean  in  His  own  blood.  A  half-hearted  re- 
ligion won't  do  for  me.  I  want  something  more  solid,  and 
this  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  saves  and  keeps  me. 


A  TEST  THAT  TOLD. 


When  I  was  in  the  old  way,  I  remember  one  night  steal- 
ing $100  worth  of  sugar  from  a  schooner.    After  my  con- 


A  Test  that  Told.  115 

version,  one  evening  I  was  in  Dover  Street  Mission,  when 
who  should  come  in  but  the  captain  of  the  schooner.  He  saw 
me,  and  asked  those  around  "  what  they  were  doing  with 
Jerry  McAuley  there  ?"  They  told  him  Jerry  was  converted, 
when  he  said,  "  he  would  rather  believe  the  Devil  was  con- 
verted than  McAuley." 

They  called  me  down  to  him,  and  the  captain  said,  "  Do 
you  know  me?"  I  said,  "  I  think  I've  seen  you  somewhere." 
The  captain  replied,  "  I  think  you  have.  Do  you  remember 
the  sugar  you  beat  me  out  of?"  "I  really  don't  know,"  I 
said  :  "  I've  beat  so  many."  He  told  me  the  circumstances  ; 
and  then  I  said,  "  Well,  I've  been  converted,  and  to  prove  it 
to  you  I  will  give  you  the  $100."  But  he  said  he  had  beaten 
the  owners  and  I  had  beaten  him,  and  so  we  would  call  it 
square.,  I  tell  you,  my  friends,,  it  pays  to  serve  the  Lord. 
I  hope  some  poor  soul  may  to-night  conclude  to  be  honest 
with  himself  and  with  God.  Come  on  the  Lord's  side 
to-night. 


FORGIVEN   MOST,   PRAISE  MOST. 

Those  of  us  whom  God  has  taken  out  of  the  dirty  hole 
ought  to  be  always  telling  of  his  goodness.  It  hurts  me 
when  God's  people  act  as  if  they  were  ashamed  to  speak  for 
him.  I  am  no  hair-splitter,  and  what  God  says  to  me  I  be- 
lieve because  he  says  it.  You  heard  about  the  fellow  who 
was  describing  a  little  fly  to  another  friend,  and  he  talked 
about  the  various  parts  of  the  fly,  and  so  on,  and  wondered 
how  they  could  have  been  produced,  and  "  look,"  says  he, 
"  at  this  tiny  foot.  How  could  it  ever  have  been  made  ?" 
"  Oh  don't  bother  me,"  said  the  other.  "  God  said,  Let 
there  be  flies,  and  there  was  flies,  and  I  know  there  is  plenty 


1 1 6     *  Slack  Christians. 

of  them,  and  that  is  enough  for  me."  Some  people  are  hair- 
splitters.  "  If  I  get  religion,  how  will  so  and  so  come  out  ?" 
Well,  let  God  take  care  of  that,  and  do  you  do  your  duty. 
He  saved  me  several  years  ago,  and  he  has  kept  me  by  sim- 
ply trusting  in  him. 

SLACK  KIND  OF  CHRISTIANS. 

I  was  thinking  of  what  that  lady  who  is  seated  over 
there  said,  when  testifying  to-night,  about  moderate-drinking 
and  prohibition.  It  is  a  terrible  thing  to  profess  to  be  a 
Christian  and  still  drink  rum.  Why  don't  all  the  preachers 
preach  radical  temperance  ?  Shall  I  tell  you  ?  Because 
some  of  them  dabble  in  the  accursed  stuff  themselves! 
They  sip  it,  and  a  few  of  them  defend  its  use  as  a  beverage  (?), 
and  call  me  a  "  lunkhead  "  and  an  "  ignoramus"  and  "  a  poor, 
uneducated  fanatic."  Well,  I'm  willing  to  be  called  a  fana- 
tic in  this  matter,  and  I  don't  deny  I  am  "  uneducated  "  and 
an  "  ignoramus."  I  never  pretended  to  be  anything  else ;  but 
this  I  know — souls  do  get  saved  Jiere,  and  poor  drunkards  give 
up  their  drink  and  become  happy,  sober  men,  husbands,  and 
fathers.  Moody  says,  "  God  don't  choose  men  according  to 
their  abilities,  but  chooses  the  man  or  woman  next  to  Him; 
that  is,  the  one  who  lives  nearest  to  Him."  Some  folks 
don't  know  what  it  is  to  live  near  the  Lord.  They  have  no 
moral  backbone,  no  strength  of  character,  nothing  in  them 
for  good  or  evil,  and  never  will  have.  You  ask  them  why 
they  don't  come  to  meeting,  and  they'll  say,  "  Oh,  it's  too 
crowded  up  there  at  McAulcy's,"  or  "  It's  too  hot  up  there  at 
the  Mission."  I'd  say  to  them,  "  I'm  thinking  you'll  get  a 
hotter  place  if  you  don't  stir  yourselves — a  place  you  won't 
get  out  of  easy,  cither."  Here  are  ungodly  men  and  women 
sweltering  away  every  night,  and  these  dainty  professors  think 


The  Wonderful  Difference.  117 

it's  too  hot.  I  wonder  if  the  dear  Jesus  ever  complained  of  it 
being  too  hot  to  help  souls?  These  are  the  kind  that  won't 
take  a  stand  for  temperance  or  anything  else.  I  don't  see 
how  you  can  put  wine  on  your  tables,  or  drink  it  yourselves, 
right  in  the  presence  of  your  children.  May  God  help  you 
to-night  to  see  these  things  as  they  are !  How  would  you 
like  to  give  me  a  bottle  of  wine  and  see  me  rolling  in  the 
gutter,  cursing  and  blaspheming  the  name  of  God  instead  of 
praying?  Yet  you  are  doing  it  to  others  who  might  be 
as  useful.  Young  converts  start  well :  God  saves  them  from 
drink,  and  their  homes  brighten  up ;  they  get  good  employ- 
ment, and  begin  to  move  in  society.  Again,  they  see  your 
so-called  moderation,  and  then  say,  "  He  is  a  good  Christian 
man,  and  it  can't  be  so  wrong  after  all  to  use  it  in  modera- 
tion /"  and  he  tastes,  drinks,  falls,  and  dies !  Who's  to  blame  ? 
I  know  of  an  old  woman  down-town  who  no  doubt  com- 
menced as  a  "  moderate  drinker,"  but  when  I  saw  her  she 
was  such  a  helpless  sot  that  she  soon  after  died  through  rum. 

THE    GREAT  CHANGE. 

I  am  glad   the  Lord   has    permitted  me   to  live  and  to 
meet  the  friends  of  other  years  here   to-day.     I   met   Mr. 

H coming  out  of  the  bank  once  with  $150,000  in  his 

hand  ;  as  he  came  out  he  took  my  arm,  and  I  told  him  I'd 
have  cut  his  head  off  once  for  half  that  amount.  And  I 
would  ;  but  see  the  change  now.  Here  I  am,  with  as  good 
a  suit  of  clothes  on  as  he  has !  He  carries  a  good  watch, 
and,  see  there  [pulling  out  his  timepiece],  so  do  I !  I 
once  couldn't  sport  a  wooden  watch.  I  speak  this  way, 
just  to  show  what  the  gospel  can  do  for  a  man  if  he  will 
only  be  honest,  and  let  God  have  his  way.  Why,  I  used  to 
sleep  on  the  dock,  with  a  stringpiece  for  my  pillow  ! 


1 1 8  Soul  Seeking. 

HE  WAS   CALLED  A  TURNCOAT. 

The  testimonies  of  this  evening,  [he  said,  huskily]  will 
tell  in  eternity.  I  am  sick  to-night,  and  ought  to  be  up- 
stairs, but  I  desire  to  see  souls  saved.  I  was  taken  sick 
first  in  Water  Street,  and  grew  worse  while  on  my  knees 
with  the  poor  sinners  crying  for  mercy,  but  would  not  stop 
until  I  got  through.  Then  I  crawled  up-stairs  on  my  hands 
and  knees.  That  was  my  first  attack  of  pneumonia.  When 
I'm  to  die,  and  it  may  not  be  long,  I  want  to  die  on  my  knees, 
praying  for  lost  .souls.  I  don't  care  how  you  bury  me — any 
old  box  will  do.  I  don't  want  any  money  spent  on  flowers  for 
me.  There  are  small  fortunes  spent  on  flowers  at  some  funer- 
als, and  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  give  it  to  the  poor.  I 
would  rather  some  poor  soul  that  I  was  the  means  of 
leading  to  the  Lord  would  put  one  little  rose  on  my  grave 
than  have  the  wealth  of  a  millionaire.* 

My  testimony  to-night  is,  the  Lord  picked  me  up  when 
I  was  a  dirty  tramp,  without  a  friend  or  cent  in  the  world. 
The  Roman  Catholic  folks,  who  heard  of  my  conversion, 
called  me  a  "turncoat ;"  but  I  had  no  coat  to  turn — nothing 
but  an  old  red  shirt — when  I  oame  to  Jesus. 


HIS   METHODS  NOT  APPRECIATED. 

When  I  was  first  converted,  I  used  to  get  up  at  every 
chance  I  got  and  tell  the  people  I  had  been  an  old 
drunkard,  and  one  of  the  trustees  of  the  church  didn't  like 
it ;  and  one  said  he  wished  I  would  not  tell  the  people 
what  I  was. 

*  In  view  of  Jerry's  wish,  here  recorded,  the  incident  mentioned  at  the 
close  of  Chapter  XII.  is  peculiarly  interesting. 


Taking  up  the  Cross.  119 

We  did  not  know  how  to  put  on  airs,  but  went  right  in 
for  solid  work.  We  would  go  into  the  congregation,  and 
talk  to  the  people,  and  lead  them  to  the  altar. 

One  night  my  wife  got  a  young  lady  to  come,  and  we 
knelt  down  beside  her  to  help  her  to  the  Lord  ;  several  of 
the  pillars  were  sitting  quietly  on  the  platform  doing 
nothing,  and  one  of  them,  a  "  big  gun,"  said  sneeringly, 
"  Jerry  and  his  wife  will  talk  that  girl  to  death."  Wife 
heard  it  and  arose  and  took  her  seat,  but  I  didn't  hear  a 
word ;  and  'twas  well  I  didn't :  just  as  wife  got  up,  the 
Lord  wonderfully  saved  that  girl.  Oh,  how  happy  she  was  ! 
It  was  a  good  thing  we  did  run  the  risk  of  talking  her  to 
death,  for  she  died  shortly  afterward,  and  went  over  in  the 
triumphs  of  faith,  and  is  now  "  safe  in  the  arms  of  Jesus." 


TAKING  UP  THE  CROSS. 

I  hope  all  the  converts  will  feel  the  responsibility  that 
rests  on  them  to-night.  If  you  feel  it's  too  heavy  a  cross 
for  you  to  bear,  you  ought  to  ask  God  to  take  it  away.  I 
used  to  think  it  was  a  terrible  thing  to  ,talk  in  meeting  and 
tell  what  God  had  done  for  my  soul.  At  first  when  I  used 
to  get  up  there  would  come  a  great  lump  in  my  throat  that 
nearly  choked  me,  but  I  would  jump  up  and  hang  on  to  the 
seat,  and  say  "  I  love  Jesus,"  and  flop  down  as  if  I  was  shot. 
I  always  felt  better  for  it.  Let  every  one  improve  the 
time  to-night. 


1 2O  Enduring  the  Shame. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

ANOTHER  CHAPTER  OF  TESTIMONIES. 

"Saved  by  grace,  oh,  blessed  tidings, 

Wonderful  His  love  to  show, 
Jesus  died  to  bring  salvation 
To  the  perishing  below. 

Saved  by  grace,  through  Jesus'  blood 
Made  an  heir  and  child  of  God  !" 

NOTHING  TO  BOAST  OF. 

WE,  the  converts  especially,  are  responsible  for  this 
meeting.  It  depends  on  us  whether  it  proves  a  success  or 
failure.  If  we  keep  still,  nothing  can  be  done ;  but  if  we  do 
our  duty  promptly  and  keep  in  the  Spirit — speaking  and 
singing  as  God  wants  us  to — this  meeting  will  be  a  success. 
Most  certainly  is  this  true  of  those  of  us  whom  God  has 
taken  out  of  the  lowest  depths.  Some  $eem  to  think  if  a 
man  gets  up  and  tells  how  low  he  was,  "  a  poor  forsaken 
drunkard,"  "  a  miserable  thief,"  etc.,  that  he  is  boasting  of 
his  shame.  I  tell  it  here  often,  and  yet  it  hurts  me  every 
time ;  hurts  me  right  here  [he  continued,  pointing  to  his 
heart],  and  I  can't  get  rid  of  it ;  it  may  be  pride,  but 
whatever  you  may  call  it,  it's  there !  For  Jesus'  sake  and 
for  his  glory  I'll  endure  the  shame,  and  tell  plainly  what  he 
has  done  for  my  soul. 

Now  I  want  you  all  to  testify  and  tell  what  God  has 
done  for  you,  and  be  as  short  as  you  can.  You  have, 


The  Father  s  Love.  121 

probably,  all  heard  about  the  three  men  with  the  pot  of 
stir-about,  haven't  you  ?  Three  hungry  men  had  a  pot  of 
stir-about  set  before  them,  but  had  only  one  spoon,  and  the 
stir-about  being  too  hot  to  use  their  hands,  one  was  to  use 
the  spoon  and  then  pass  it  to  the  second,  and  so  on.  Now 
what  would  you  think  if  one  fellow  took  the  spoon  and 
kept  it  all  the  time  and  let  the  others  starve  ?  Well,  pass 
around  the  spoon.  The  meeting  is  open  now  for  testi- 
mony. Don't  you  see  it  ? 

THE  PRODIGAL  SON. 

I  read  that  scripture  about  the  Prodigal  Son  a  long  time 
ago,  and  I  thought  I  was  like  one  of  those  characters,  and 
I  thought  the  other  didn't  have  much  religion  either  1 
Why,  he  got  mad  when  the  poor  wanderer  came  home,  and 
then  went  off  growling  and  grumbling.  He  was  one  of 
those  nice,  goodish  boys  who  brag  about  always  staying  at 
home  and  taking  care  of  everything — very  nice,  precise 
folks — kid-glove  sinners ;  but  they  are  usually  like  this 
fellow — not  half  as  good  as  they  think  themselves  to  be : 
for  here  is  your  never-did-wrong  chap  growling  and  getting 
mad  at  his  poor  old  father,  and  it  don't  say  the  Prodigal 
ever  did  that !  What  did  he  growl  about  ?  Why,  because 
the  father  loved  his  own  child,  and  was  glad  to  see  him 
coming  home  after  staying  away  so  long — was  glad  to  see 
him  even  though  he  was  in  rags,  barefooted,  and  heart-sick ! 
There  are  some  of  those  steady  brothers  around  yet.  Well, 
I  praise  the  dear  Lord  I  am  his  child  to-night. 


NOT  ALL  FROTH. 

I  am  saved  from  being  a  drunkard  of  the  worst  kind.     I 
was  a  gambler  and  led  a  crooked  life    for  years.     I   was 


122  Soft  Words  for  Sinners. 

brought  back  to  Christ  in  what  was  called  the  "  John  Allen 
excitement."  It  may  have  been  an  excitement,  but  it  was 
not  i\\  froth  after  all,  for  I  was  saved  there,  and  I  know  of 
others  in  Water  Street  who  were  saved,  and  lived  saved 
afterwards.  I  love  God  to-night,  and  I  love  precious  souls. 
I  saw  a  poor  man  here  to-day  with  the  shakes,  fighting 
against  rum,  and  I  pitied  the  poor  fellow  with  all  my  heart. 
I  know  if  he  holds  on  to  God  in  prayer  he  will  come  out  all 
right.  I've  seen  it  done  often  before  this.  Now  let  any 
one  testify  to  what  they  know  to  be  true  in  this  Christian 
life. 


NO  REPROACHES  FOR  SINNERS. 

Jesus  saw  Zaccheus  up  in  the  tree  and  he  knew  him,  knew 
all  about  him ;  but  I  notice  he  didn't  call  him  an  extortion- 
ist, or  a  robber,  or  any  hard  name,  but  merely  said,  "  Come 
down,  Zaccheus;  I'm  going  to  take  dinner  at  your  house  to- 
day!" Didn't  accuse  him  of  anything.  He  never  does. 
Never  calls  those  who  come  to  him  hard  names  !  He  never 
called  one  of  those  poor  unfortunate  women  a  "  Magdalene" 
once — not  once  in  his  whole  history.  No,  sir !  The  bigger 
the  sinner  the  more  tender  Jesus  was.  He  never  was  harsh, 
only  with  one  class  of  people — those  hypocritical  Pharisees ; 
those  dead  church-members  who  professed  religion,  but 
hated  Christ,  and  were  only  hypocrites.  He  went  for  them  ; 
and  so  he  ought,  and  so  do  I  go  for  them,  and  I  intend  to 
keep  it  hot  for  them.  I  praise  Jesus  for  the  wonderful 
change  he  has  made  in  my  life  in  the  last  few  years.  It 
would  make  a  wonderful  picture  to  paint  me  as  I  was  when 
I  first  came  to  God,  and  as  I  am  here  to-night.  He  cleansed 
me  inside  and  out. 


About  Confessing.  123 

TWO   YEARS   OF   PRAYER. 

A  friend  who  came  to  the  Mission  a  skeptic,  but  was  at 
length  converted,  had  given  his  testimony,  when  Mr.  Mc- 
Auley  rose  and  said  : 

"That  testimony  did  my  heart  good,  not  simply  because 
the  speaker  referred  to  me  or  my  prayers,  for  I  don't  know 
as  they  had  anything  to  do  with  his  conversion.  It  might 
have  been  in  answer  to  the  prayers  of  some  of  the  godly 
men  and  women  who  come  here,  or  it  may  have  been  my 
wife's  prayers.  I  cannot  tell.  We  did  pray  for  him,  it  is 
true  ;  and  to  be  honest  with  you,  I  got  discouraged  over  him. 
I  thought  him  one  of  the  hardest  cases  that  ever  came  into 
those  doors.  Think  of  it,  two  years  praying  steadily  for 
one  man  before  he  yielded ! 

"  I  can  say  to-night  I  am  saved  by  the  tender  mercy  of 
God.  I  owe  all  I  have  to-day  to  Him — home,  friends,  and 
everything.  I  love  the  Lord  to-night  for  all  he  has  done 
for  me.  The  meeting  is  now  open;  let  the  time  be  im- 
proved." 


ABOUT  CONFESSING. 

"  I  don't  see,"  said  he,  "  how  any  one  can  get  over,  under, 
or  around  that  verse  about  confessing.  Some  people  say  '  It 
isn't  our  style  to  stand  up  and  speak ;  we  don't  do  that  sort 
of  thing  in  our  church.'  But  there  stands  the  Word  of  God ; 
and  I  tell  you  the  testimony  of  Orville  Gardner  in  State's 
Prison  was  the  means  of  bringing  me  to  Christ.  I  had  heard 
preaching  there  for  seven  or  eight  years  without  its  having 
any  effect  upon  me  at  all,  because  I  had  no  confidence  in 
the  minister.  We  must  be  honest  with  God.  My  prayer  to 
Him  is  that  He  will  keep  me  honest.  It's  not  the  way  I 
talk  before  you,  but  the  way  I  live,  that  must  tell." 


1 24  A  Lively  Imagination. 

FELL  DOWN,  BUT  DID  NOT  STAY  DOWN. 

In  the  early  part  of  my  experience  I  stumbled  a  great 
deal,  but  God  saw  I  was  honest,  and  he  helped  me  over 
the  rough  places.  I  will  have  to  acknowledge,  for  I  hate 
hypocrisy  and  I  can't  help  hating  it,  and  won't  be  a  hypo- 
crite myself,  that  I  became  discouraged  once  or  twice  in  the 
beginning,  and  let  go  of  God  and  went  back  into  sin.  Yes, 
I  went  back  to  the  rum  and  a//,  but  I  didn't  stay  there. 
I  came  back  to  the  Lord  again,  and  He  forgave  me;  and, 
seeing  I  was  determined  to  be  honest  and  true,  he  blessed 
me  again,  and  has  kept  me  ever  since.  The  trouble  with 
some  men  is  they  have  no  backbone,  and  if  everything  don't 
go  to  suit  them,  they  let  go,  fall,  and  stay  there.  If  a  man 
knocked  one  of  you  down  would  you  stay  there  and  let  him 
kick  the  life  out  of  you?  No!  Of  course  you  wouldn't — 
you'd  get  up  and  try  and  save  yourself,  wouldn't  you? 
Well,  that's  the  way  to 'do  with  Satan:  if  he  gets  you  down 
by  some  foul  blow,  don't  you  lie  there  and  let  him  kick  you 
to  death,  but  jump  up  and  strike  out  for  yourself! 

NOT  IMAGINATION. 

We  used  to  have  our  trials  too.  The  devil  would  torment: 
us,  and  men  and  women  too,  v/ould  revile  us  and  call  us 
"  turncoats,"  etc.  One  fellow  said  to  me,  "  O  Jerry,  you 
only  imagine  yourself  into  it ;  the  whole  affair  is  just  the 
work  of  your  imagination." 

"  Well,"  I  replied,  GOOD  for  imagination  /" 

"Well,  that's  all  it  is!" 

*'  All  right,"  I  said,  "  I  used  to  be  just  like  you  are  now, 
wretched,  ragged,  friendless,  homeless  and  unhappy;  now 
see  me,  I  am  contented ;  have  a  good  conscience  and  every- 


Jewels  in  Strange  Surroundings.  125 

thing  I  need.  Say  !  why  don't  you  imagine  yourself  into  it 
then  too?  It's  so  e-a-s-y,  and  it's  certainly  better.  Just  im- 
agine it,  why  don't  you  ?"  No,  my  friends,  it  is  not  all  im- 
agination, but  you  can  all  prove  it  for  yourselves  if  you  will, 
to-night. 

NO  ONE   TOO   BAD. 

The  Lord  is  good  to  me ;  if  I  had  my  just  deserts  I 
would  not  be  here.  I  tell  you,  I  believe  that  if  ever  God 
left  anybody  outside  the  gate  it  would  be  me.  Since  I 
found  mercy  I  know  that  none  can  be  too  bad  for  the  Son 
of  God  to  lift  up,  and  cleanse,  and  save.  Did  you  ever 
know  Jesus  to  speak  a  harsh  word  to  a  sinner  ?  The  worse 
the  sinner,  the  kinder  the  Lord  Jesus  was. 


THE   SOUL  BENEATH. 

I  suppose  I  was  the  first  one  to  open  a  place  for  tramps, 
and  we  would  have  as  many  as  fifty  or  sixty  at  once  to 
provide  lodgings  for ;  they  would  be  stretched  out  on  the 
benches  and  then  on  the  floors,  until  there  was  not  room  to 
put  your  foot  down  without  stepping  on  them.  They  were 
a  terribly  degraded  set — hungry,  ragged,  and  alive  with 
vermin  ;  but  we  looked  beyond  -all  that,  and  saw  only  souls 
for  whom  Christ  died  and  whom  he  desired  to  save,  and 
every  now  and  then  God  found  a  real  jewel  among  them. 

When  I  first  started  out  I  had  a  pretty  hard  time,  and  I 
expected  I  would.  Some  people  seem  to  think  the  Lord 
is  going  to  send  a  convoy  of  angels  and  float  them  off  to 
heaven  as  soon  as  they  are  converted  ;  but.  that's  a  mistake. 
It  wouldn't  be  good  for  us  if  it  was  so,  for  we'd  never  grow 
in  grace  one  particle. 


126  Silent  Christians. 

SIGHTS   NEAR  THE   SEA-SHORE. 

I'm  saved  to-night  from  everything  that's  wicked  and 
bad.  I  was  down  to  the  sea-shore  to-day  to  attend  a 
Sunday-school  gathering.  On  our  way  home  the  train 
stopped  at  a  station,  and  a  crowd  rushed  in  until  every  inch 
of  room  was  taken  up,  and  such  a  crowd  !  Men  and  women, 
old  and  young,  and  the  fumes  of  their  breath  were  sickening 
— regular  bucket-shop  rum.  Just  think  of  it;  men  and 
women  too,  with  flushed  faces,  reeling  brains,  and  with 
their  breath  so  offensive  with  poison  that  it  would  knock 
a  decent  man  down  !  They  had  not  been  crowded  in  but 
a  few  moments  before  the  atmosphere  of  the  car  was  unfit 
for  a  hog  to  breathe.  Yet  these  were  men  and  women  made 
^in  God's  own  image  !  I  am  glad  I  am  saved  from  being  a 
drunkard  and  a  public  nuisance.  God  will  save  every  one, 
if  we  will  only  get  honest,  and  come  to  him  for  help  on  our 
knees. 

Let  all  do  their  duty  to-night,  and  remember  the  one- 
minute  rule.  Some  one  said  a  few  nights  ago,  in  speaking 
of  this  one-minute  rule,  that  there  was  "  no  liberty  here." 
Such  fellows  want  to  get  up  and  take  up  the  whole 
time  themselves,  spinning  it  off  by  the  yard,  and  then 
they'll  go  off  and  say,  "  Oh,  we  had  such  liberty  down  at 
McAuley's."  Yes,  but  they  had  it  all  to  themselves :  no  one 
else  had  a  bit !  Now,  let  all  speak  short  and  to  the  point. 


GETTING   RID  OF  "THE   BLUES. 

The  meeting  is  open  for  testimony.  We  will  never  see 
this  night  again.  May  the  Lord  help  us  to  testify  for  him, 
for  we  may  never  have  another  opportunity !  Some  come 
here  night  after  night  and  always  keep  still,  never  speak  at 


God's  Power  to  Save.  127 

all.  I  often  think  if  God's  cause  here  depended  on  you, 
it  would  be  a  poor  affair.  Some  folks  come  here  with  the 
blues,  they  say,  and  can't  talk.  Why  don't  you  get  rid  of 
them  before  you  come  here,  or  else  get  up  and  confess, 
and  get  blessed  ?  I  often  come  when  I  feel  like  lying 
down  in  the  aisle,  I  feel  so  bad  ;  but  I  see  the  need  of  put- 
ting forth  an  effort  to  rescue  poor  perishing  souls,  and  so  I 
ask  God  to  help  me,  and  do  the  best  I  can.  Don't  you  know 
the  Lord  takes  a  worm  sometimes  to  thrash  a  mountain  ? 
I  am  saved  to-night  from  everything  wicked  and  bad.  I  was 
once  without  a  friend,  without  a  home,  without  God,  and 
without  a  hope  for  either  world ;  now  I  have  all  of  these, 
and  have  had  for  fourteen  years.  Some  good  people  think 
that  God  can't  save  a  blackguard  ;  but  if  you  will  come 
here  often,  you  will  be  wonderfully  disappointed  when  you 
see  some  that  God  saves  here  !  I  was  once  one  of  the 
dirtiest,  drunken,  fighting  old  tramps  you  ever  saw.  God 
converted  me  in  an  instant  ;  I  never  swore  an  oath  since 
that  day,  nor  knocked  a  man  down — that  is,  in  anger ;  I 
used  to  have  to  carry  them  out  on  my  shoulder  down  in 
Water  Street  Mission  ;  but  what  I  claim  is  that  God  takes 
the  ugly  fight  all  out  of  a  man  when  he  converts  him — 
don't  make  him  a  coward,  but  takes  away  all  desire  to 
harm  any  one  else.  God  always, makes  a  way  of  escape  for 
us.  I  have  had  men  draw  back  to  strike  me,  but  they 
didn't  do  it,  and  if  they  had  I  don't  know  what  I  should 
have  done ;  but  God  made  a  way  of  escape,  somehow  or 
other,  so  they  didn't  strike  me. 

Now,  I  want  you  all  to  take  hold  here  to-night,  and 
make  this  an  interesting  meeting.  You  can't  find  any 
better  place  than  this  to  go.  Just  hear  this  singing.  Talk 
about  your  paid  choirs,  why  this  beats  them  all !  Some  of 


128  A  Great  Change. 

them  get  their  ten  thousand  dollars  a  year,  but  they  can't 
compare  with  this.  I  have  a  great  many  gentlemen  and 
ladies,  uptown  and  down,  speak  to  me  about  this  wonder- 
ful singing,  and  they  all  say  they  never  heard  the  like.  Do 
you  know  why?  because  we're  singing  for  Jesus  here! 
That's  what  makes  the  melody,  "making  melody  in  your 
hearts!"  Now,  let  all  speak,  and  tell  what  God  has  done  for 
your  souls. 

****** 
I  am  a  monument  to  God's  grace  and  God's  mercy  and 
God's  forbearance.  The  longer  I  live  the  more  I  see  it  and 
feel  it.  May  the  Lord  keep  me  humble !  May  the  Lord 
keep  me  grateful !  I  don't  care  much  about  the  world ;  it 
looks  small  to  me.  Perhaps  it  would  look  bigger  if  I  had 
better  health.  I  have  cause  to  love  God.  He  picked  me 
up  from  a  terrible  hole,  and  washed  me  from  my  sins. 
Now  you  have  heard  the  biggest  debtor  to  grace  that  is  in 
the  room ;  let  the  next  heaviest  debtor  follow  me. 


HUMBLE  AND   HAPPY. 

The  Lord  has  been  at  work,  and  the  more  the  Lord 
works  the  more  humble  I  feel.  I  pray  God  to  keep  me  so, 
for  I  know  that  without  Him  I  could  do  nothing.  I  have 
nothing  to  be  proud  of ;  I  am  proud  of  my  Saviour,  and  not 
of  myself.  I  was  a  notorious  drunkard  and  gambler.  Even 
my  wife  does  not  know  some  of  the  sins  I  committed,  and 
she  never  will  till  the  Day  of  Judgment.  I  don't  know 
what  to  say  to  express  my  feelings  of  thankfulness.  I 
know  I  have  been  converted,  that  is,  if  conversion  is 
ceasing  to  love  that  which  is  evil  and  loving  that  which  is 
good.  I  know  that  divine  grace  saved  me  from  a  drunk- 


' '  Getting  Religion. "  129 

ard's  grave.  Now  there  are  many  here  who  can  thank  God 
with  me  for  saving  them,  and  whom  he  has  cleaned  inside 
and  out.  They  ought  to  tell  others  the  story.  Don't  let 
us  be  like  the  nine  lepers  who  were  healed  by  the  Lord 
Jesus,  and  never  came  back  to  thank  Him. 


HE   HAD   GOT   RELIGION. 

I  don't  encourage  any  one  to  be  careless  or  to  run  any 
risk  of  falling  from  God,  but  when  they  do  fall  I  shall  take 
them  back  again  and  help  them  to  God.  It  is  a  dangerous 
thing  to  give  way  to  sin  and  fall  from  our  love  to  God ! 
We  might  fall  once  too  often  and  die  ere  we  cfould  recover. 
Yes,  it's  dangerous  to  fall  even  once,  for  God  might  cut  us 
off.  Oh,  how  terrible  it  would  be  !  Why  it's  like  stepping 
right  out  of  heaven  into  hell !  Isn't  it  awful  ?  I  fell  three 
times  when  I  first  started.  I  was  ignorant ;  I  knew  nothing 
of  the  Christian  life  or  its  peculiar  duties  or  perils,  so  I  had 
to  learn  by  bitter  experience.  Some  persons  have  asked 
me,  "  Do  you  really  believe  you  were  converted  before  your 
falls?"  Yes,  I  was;  I  know  I  was  converted  while  in  a 
prison-cell.  Why,  I  was  so  happy  I  fell  like  a  dead  man  on 
my  cell-floor,  and  didn't  know  anything  for  a  long  while. 
When  I  got  up  I  couldn't  contain  myself.  I  knocked 
things  around  and  shouted,  and  I  suppose  made  a  terrible 
to-do.  The  keeper  heard  it, — a  tall  old  Jew  we  called 
"  Shadpole,"  because  he  was  so  long  and  slim, — and  slipping 
along  with  his  slippered  feet  to  my  door  he  peeked  in 
between  the  bars  and  hollered,  half-scared  like,  "  What's  the 
matter  in  there  ?"  I  didn't  answer  him,  but  kept  right  on  ; 
I  couldn't  help  it ;  and  he  yelled  again : 

"Say,  what's  the  matter?" 
9 


130  Jerry's  Plan  Overruled. 

"  Oh,"  I  cried,  "  I've  got  religion  !" 

"  What  ?" 

"  I've  got  r-e-1-i-g-i-o-n,"  I  answered  again. 

"  I'll  give  you  r-e-1-i-g-i-o-n,"  he  growled,  and  proceeded 
to  take  down  my  number  for  a  cold  shower-bath  for  next 
morning.  I  suppose  he  thought  I  needed  cooling  off,  but  I 
never  got  it.  The  Lord  made  that  man  lose  his  book  or  get 
confused  about  the  number  or  something,  for  I  was  not 
punished  at  all.  I  went  to  work  after  that  conversion  like 
any  other  converted  man,  and  if  I  do  say  it  myself,  others 
were  led  to  God.  I  only  had  a  half  hour  at  a  time,  but 
I  improved  it  among  my  fellow-prisoners  to  say  a  word  of 
kindness,  and  we  would  often  shed  tears  together.  Oh  yes, 
I  believe  I  was  converted  even  though  I  was  so  foolish  as 
to  fall  away  for  a  season  afterwards.  I  believe  you  may 
possibly  fall  away,  but  I  advise  you  to  come  back  quickly, 
get  forgiven,  and  never  run  any  risk  of  falling  again  by  your 
own  carelessness  or  failure  to  watch  and  pray,  and  trust 
Jesus.  I  never  could  see  how  any  Christian  could  be  idle. 
I  can't  keep  still ;  I  must  be  doing  something  for  others,  or 
I'd  die. 


THOUGHT  HE  WOULD  BE  A  DETECTIVE. 

Did  you  ever  hear  how  near  I  came  to  being  a  regular 
paid  detective?  Well,  I'll  tell  you.  I  thought  I  might  as 
well  do  something  for  myself,  and  concluding  I'd  make  a 
good  detective  I  went  to  A.  T.  Stewart's  large  place  and 
applied  for  a  position  as  a  detective.  The  man  looked  at 
me  awhile  and  seemed  dubious  about  it. 

"  Don't  you  know,"  he  asked,  "  that  it  requires  a  great 
deal  of  talent  to  be  a  detective  ?" 


Last  Public  Testimonies.  131 

"  Yes,  I  know  it,  and  I  believe  I  have  the  necessary  tal- 
ent, sir,  to  make  a  success  of  it." 

"  Have  you  had  any  previous  experience  in  this  work, 
and  knowledge  of  the  class  of  characters  you  will  have  to 
deal  with  ?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  quite  an  experience." 

"  Where,  and  under  what  circumstances?" 

So  I  had  to  tell  him  who  I  was,  what  I'd  been,  and  all 
about  it.  When  I  got  through  he  looked  at  me  in  astonish- 
ment for  a  moment,  but  finally  said,  "  You  will  undoubtedly 
hear  from  me  in  a  few  days  in  regard  to  this  matter.  I'll 
send  you  our  decision  in  that  time.  I  can  encourage  you 
with  the  assurance  that  it  will  be  favorable  to  your  wishes." 

I  went  home,  and  was  looking  for  the  man  to  send  me  the 
answer,  but  before  he  had  time  to  do  so  the  Lord  sent  me 
the  pneumonia  and  laid  me  upon  my  back  for  six  weeks;  so 
my  detective  job  was  all  lost,  and  I've  stuck  to  the  mission 
work.  God  has  given  me  a  great  many  souls  for  which  I 
am  very  grateful,  and  am  very  much  encouraged  to  hold  on 
as  long  as  I  may  live. 


LAST  TESTIMONIES. 

It  was  Jerry  McAuley's  earnest  desire  to  testify  with  his 
dying  breath  to  the  power  of  saving  grace.  This  God  per- 
mitted him  to  do  publicly  up  to  within  a  very  few  days  of 
his  departure.  On  the  evening  of  Friday,  September  12, 
less  than  a  week  before  his  death,  he  said  in  the  Mission 
meeting: 

"  I  feel  as  if  I  want  to  testify  always,  and  even  with  my 
dying  breath,  to  the  goodness  of  God  in  saving  me.  Some- 
times I  do  not  seem  to  have  words  to  express  my  feelings 


132  Effect  of  the  Bible. 

of  thankfulness  to  Him  for  His  great  mercy,  or  words  to 
praise  Him  for  His  goodness  in  saving  me  from  going  down 
to  perdition." 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  September  14,  his  last  Sunday  on 
earth,  after  listening  to  the  story  of  the  woman  of  Samaria, 
Jerry  said :  "  She  was  a  hard  case.  Respectable  women 
would  not  have  associated  with  her ;  but  the  Son  of  God 
condescended  to  talk  with  her."  Our  brother  spoke  of  the 
woman's  selfishness.  She  wanted  Christ's  gift  so  that  she 
might  not  any  longer  have  the  trouble  of  coming  to  the 
well  to  draw«water.  He  then  spoke  of  himself  as  he  once 
was,  in  no  mild  or  measured  terms.  "  I  was  a  brute,  I  was 
one  of  the  worst  devils  ever  let  loose  in  society,  but  the 
glorious  Gospel  contained  in  that  blessed  Bible  civilized  me. 
It  is  the  greatest  civilizer  in  the  world.  There  is  no  power 
like  it.  It  made  a  man  and  a  Christian  and  a  good  citizen 
of  me." 


Summoned  by  the  King.  133 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CALLED   HOME. 

"My  kingly  King  at  His  right  hand 

My  presence  doth  command, 
Where  glory,  glory  dwelleth, 
In  Immanuel's  land." 

IN  the  dealings  of  God  with  his  people  infinite  wisdom 
and  infinite  love  ever  blend.  All  things,  death  included, 
work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  the  Lord.  Thus 
while  we  record  the  decease  of  him  to  whose  memory  these 
pages  are  devoted,  it  is  in  the  blessed  confidence  that  there 
was  no  mistake  in  the  time  of  his  departure.  Our  God 
knew  best  when  to  take  his  servant.  Jerry  McAuley  was 
called  home  on  September  18,  1884,  being  then  forty-five 
years  of  age.  He  had  long  been  ailing,  and  knew  that  the 
call  home  would  probably  come  suddenly  when  it  did  come. 
And  sudden  indeed  it  was!  On  the  day  previous  to  his 
death  Jerry  was  in  the  very  best  of*  spirits.  In  the  after- 
noon he  and  Mrs.  McAuley  spent  a  brief  while  in  Central 
Park,  but  immediately  on  their  return  home  Jerry  was 
seized  with  a  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs.  Physicians  were 
sent  for  and  speedily  arrived.  It  was  on  that  night,  while 
expecting  that  every  moment  would  be  his  last,  that  he  said 
to  one  of  the  converts  of  the  Mission,  pointing  upward  as 
he  spoke,  "  It's  all  right  up  there."  He  was  too  much  ex- 


134  Safe  in  Port. 

hausted  to  say  more.  Soon  there  came  a  little  relief  and 
some  promise  of  improvement.  On  the  morning  of  Thurs- 
day he  requested  his  wife  to  read  a  psalm  to  him,  and  he 
listened  with  evident  interest  as  she  did  so.  On  Thursday 
afternoon,  when  his  wife  said  to  him,  "  Jesus  is  your 
Saviour,"  he  twice  nodded  assent.  At  four  o'clock,  or  a 
very  few  minutes  after,  another  hemorrhage  came  on,  and 
within  three  minutes  his  spirit  had  taken  its  flight.  Pain 
and  suffering  were  for  him  things  of  the  past.  He  had 
entered  into  his  reward. 

Since  Jesus  wept  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  it  cannot  be 
wrong  for  us  to  weep  in  the  hour  of  bereavement ;  but 
while  we  sorrow,  we  do  "  not  sorrow  as  those  who  have  no 
hope."  The  Christian  sings, 

"  Death  no  longer  now  we  die; 
We  but  follow  Christ  on  high." 

The  loss  of  a  friend,  the  loss  of  an  honest,  loving,  conse- 
crated worker  we  mourn.  Yet,  with  resigned  hearts  and 
submissive  wills,  we  bow  to  the  dispensation  of  our  all-wise 
and  ever-loving  Father  in  Heaven,  and  say,  "  Even  so, 
Father  ;  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  Thy  sight."  Remember- 
ing how  God  saved  Jerry  McAuley,  and  how  useful  in  win- 
ning souls  God  made  him,  we  rather  rejoice  at  the  sanctified 
life  and  its  glorious  success,  than  mourn  at  the  so-called 
death.  Nay,  as  we  think  of  the  reward  that  awaited  him, 
the  rest  that  remained  for  him,  the  welcome  of  the  Re- 
deemer, the  greeting  of  many  now  in  glory  who  were  saved 
through  his  instrumentality,  we  can  even  rejoice  at  his  de- 
parture. 

Even  his  death  was  not  without  fruit.  One  who  looked 
upon  his  face  as  the  body  lay  in  the  casket,  then  and  there 


Broadway  Tabernacle:  Funeral  Service.       135 

resolved  by  God's  help  to  start  in  the  new  life.  Nor  has 
Jerry  ceased  to  serve  the  Lord  whom  he  loved.  In  that 
bright  world  where  he  now  is  the  inhabitants  serve  their 
King  unceasingly.  They  rest  not  day  nor  night  doing  his 
will.  Saved  from  a  life  of  sin,  let  us  thank  God  that  Jerry 
McAuley  was  TRANSFORMED;  saved  forever  from 
suffering  and  sorrow,  let  us  thank  God  that  he  has  been 
TRANSLATED. 


The  following  account  of  the  Memorial  Service  held  in 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle  is  taken  from  Jerry  McAuley  s 
Newspaper,  of  which  mention  has  already  been  made..  The 
account  of  the  Memorial  Service  at  No.  316  Water  Street  is 
from  the  same  source. 

Broadway  Tabernacle,  Thirty-fourth  Street  and  Sixth 
Avenue,  was  thronged  on  Sunday  afternoon  last  (Sept.  21). 
The  audience-room,  the  long  deep  galleries,  the  many 
aisles,  the  doorways  and  vestibules,  were  crowded.  Hun 
drens  of  disappointed  people  were  unable  to  find  entrance, 
and  turned  away,  many  of  them  after  coming  miles  to  be 
present  at  the  Memorial  Service.  The  exercises  com- 
menced at  half-past  two  o'clock.  The  Rev.  S.  Irenaeus 
Prime,  D.D.,  senior  editor  of  the  New  York  Observer,  pre- 
sided. The  Tabernacle  choir  sang  some  pieces,  and  Mr. 
George  W.  Stebbins  sang  some  solos. 

It  was  a  most  solemn  and  affecting  service.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Deems,  Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Strangers,  read  the 
Scriptures,  and  when  he  came  to  the  words,  "  Forasmuch 
as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord,"  our 
hearts  felt  that  this  was  peculiarly  true  of  Jerry  McAuley's 
work. 

Dr.  Prime,  before    calling   upon   the   speakers   who   had 


136  A  Plea  for  Outcasts. 

been  chosen  to  address  the  large  audience,  referred  briefly 
to  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  deceased.  In  him, 
he  said,  we  had  proof  that  the  grace  proclaimed  in  our  holy 
religion  could  save  and  keep  any  man.  If  that  could  not, 
nothing  could. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  William  M.  Taylor,  Pastor  of  the  Broad- 
way Tabernacle  Church,  had  just  returned  from  Europe. 
The  second  item  of  intelligence  he  received  on  his  return 
was  the  fact  of  Jerry  McAuley's  death.  He  had  thought 
of  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "As  sorrowing,  yet  always  rejoic- 
ing." To  the  widow  it  brought  sorrow,  and  there  was 
sorrow  as  we  thought  of  the  loss  sustained  in  the  work. 
But  to  both  sorrows  there  was  a  sure  antidote. 

"  We  commend  the  widow,"  he  said,  "  to  the  Saviour.  He 
will  minister  to  her  comfort,  until  the  call  shall  come  to 
her,  '  Come  up  higher.' 

"  In  thinking  of  the  man  and  his  work,  there  are  one  or 
two  things  which  have  been  deeply  impressed  upon  my 
mind.  As  I  have  listened  to  his  testimony,  and  the 
testimonies  of  those  whom  he  has  led  to  Christ,  I  have 
said,  '  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  for  ;'/  is 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  them  that  believe.'  If 
Jerry  could  be  saved,  who  not  ?  After  Jerry,  anybody ! 
The  world's  outcasts  can  be  saved  by  Christ.  Jerry  would 
say,  and  he  could  say  it  without  affectation,  '  Christ  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and  I  am  chief.' 
Jerry  was  an  instance  of  a  conversion  in  prison.  We  some- 
times get  an  idea  that  there  is  no  use  in  sending  chaplains 
to  prisons.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  a  feeling  of  despair  in 
the  Church  about  work  for  prisoners.  We  should  have 
greater  faith  in  such  work.  Let  us  learn  to  think  more 


A  Wonderfiil  Redeemer.  137 

for  them  when  coming  out  of  prison.  Just  as  Paul  in 
Damascus  fell  into  the  hands  of  Barnabas,  Jerry  at  length 
fell  into  good  hands.  He  once  said  he  felt  it  so  good  to  be 
trusted  after  he  came  out  of  prison. 

" '  Deal  gently  with  the  erring,  as  thy  God  hath  dealt  with 
thee  ! '  Jerry's  case  is  a  beautiful  illustration  of  how  God 
brings  good  out  of  evil.  Through  the  evil  of  Jerry's  early 
life  God  fitted  him  for  special  labor.  A  history  like  that 
helps  one  to  understand  what  God  means  when  He  says,  '  I 
will  restore  the  years  which  the  locusts  have  eaten.'  The 
years  destroyed  by  sin  were  made  up  by  the  multiplied 
usefulness  of  the  later  years  of  Jerry's  life.  Thus  let 
sinners  put  themselves  in  the  Lord's  hands.  He  will 
restore  the  years  which  the  locusts  have  eaten.  What  a 
glorious  Gospel !  What  a  powerful  Saviour !  What  a 
wonderful  Redeemer  we  have !  Haply  some  one  is  here 
to-day,  almost  swept  in  by  the  crowd,  who  is  enslaved  by 
evil  habits.  Take  courage.  As  contact  with  the  bones  of 
the  prophet  Elisha  started  the  dead  man  into  life,  so  coming 
into  contact  with  the  truths  this  casket  preaches  now  may 
you  be  brought  to  life !" 

Mr.  A.  S.  Hatch,  Jerry  McAuley's  old  and  tried  friend, 
spoke  with  great  feeling.  "  The  impulses  of  my  heart,"  he 
said,  "would  lead  me  to  sit  beside  this  casket  a  silent 
mourner ;  but,"  he  added,  "  no  one  except  his  wife  knew 
Jerry  better  than  I  did.  It  was  my  privilege  in  the  begin- 
ning of  his  struggle  up  toward  a  better  life  to  encourage 
him  by  the  warm  grasp  of  a  helping  hand  and  to  speak  to 
him  words  of  hope  and  cheer;  and  it  has  been  my  privilege 
also,  when  clouds  and  darkness  have  gathered  about  my  own 
pathway,  to  be  uplifted  and  comforted  by  the  simple  and 
childlike,  yet  robust  faith  of  Jerry  and  his  wife,  and  by  their 


138  The  Grief  of  Thousands. 

sublime  trust  in  the  loving  Providence  of  God.  If  I  should 
keep  silence  I  might  seem  faithless  to  the  memory  of  my 
dead  friend. 

"  Jerry  McAuley  is  dead.  There  are  but  few  names  which 
linked  with  such  an  announcement  would  have  aroused  a 
more  widespread  interest  than  is  felt  to-day  wherever  men 
say  to  each  other  'Jerry  is  dead;'  not  because  a  great 
man,  as  the  world  counts  greatness,  is  gone,  but  in  recogni- 
tion of  a  humble,  sincere,  and  earnest  life,  devoted  for  six- 
teen years  to  the  uplifting  and  saving  of  lost  men  and 
women.  The  flags  of  the  city  are  not  at  half-mast  to-day ; 
no  drums  will  beat  in  the  funeral  procession  that  will  bear 
him  to  his  last  resting-place  to-morrow ;  no  volleys  will  be 
fired  over  his  grave.  Yet  thousands  of  lowly  hearts  are 
bowed  down  with  grief  for  the  friend  they  have  lost ;  while 
men  and  women  in  all  classes  of  life  who  owe  him  a  debt  of 
gratitude  they  are  not  ashamed  to  own,  are  pondering  with 
bowed  heads  and  chastened  hearts  the  lessons  of  the  life  and 
death  of  this  once  despised  and  hunted  river  thief,  but  for 
sixteen  years  the  chosen  servant  of  God,  signally  honored 
and  used  of  Him.  No  fulsome  eulogy  would  be  in  place 
over  this  now  still  and  lifeless  form.  Could  Jerry  rise  up  in 
his  coffin  and  speak,  he  would  himself  rebuke  the  man  who 
should  utter  it.  For  Jerry  gloried  not  in  himself,  but  in  the 
blessed  Saviour  who  had  transformed  him  from  what  he  once 
had  been  to  what  by  wondrous  grace  he  had  become.  He 
was  always  humble,  for  he  always  remembered  the  pit  from 
which  he  had  been  digged.  He  continually  rejoiced  in  the 
power  of  Divine  love,  and  of  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ  that 
could  so  save  and  keep  such  as  he.  He  used  to  say  to  the 
outcasts  who  felt  that  they  were  so  low  down  in  sin  that 
there  was  no  hope  and  no  salvation  for  them,  'There  is 


A  Lesson  for  the  Church.  \  39 

hope  in  Jesus  Christ  for  anybody,  for  He  saved  me.'  His 
labors  spent  for  the  salvation  and  redemption  of  the  lost 
were  not  in  vain  ;  and  his  steadfastness  to  the  end,  and 
his  triumphant  death,  have  now  confirmed  and  empha- 
sized the  lessons  of  his  life,  and  his  constantly  reiterated 
testimony  to  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save.  The  Church  of 
Christ  needed  the  lesson  of  his  sixteen  years  of  labor,  and 
their  wonderful  fruits.  Although  theoretically  all  Christians 
believe  that  the  vilest  sinner  may  be  saved,  yet  there  is 
much  practical  unbelief  and  scepticism  on  the  subject,  when 
they  are  brought  face  to  face  with  some  of  the  worst  forms 
of  human  depravity  and  of  the  wretchedness  wrought  by  sin, 
and  are  called  upon  to  believe,  and  to  act  as  if  they  believed 
in  reality,  that  individual  human  wrecks  are  worth  trying  to 
save.  It  is  this  lesson,  that  none  are  so  utterly  lost  but 
there  is  hope  in  laboring  for  their  salvation,  that  there  is  no 
depth  of  human  degradation  to  which  the  arm  of  Jesus 
cannot  reach  down  and  from  which  His  grace  cannot  lift 
the  sinner  up,  that  the  life  and  work  of  Jerry  have  taught 
us.  In  conclusion,  I  would  hold  up  Jerry,  as  he  loved  best 
to  hold  himself  up,  as  I  know  he  would  most  wish  to  be 
held  up  in  this  place  to-day — as  a  monument  of  divine  grace, 
as  a  signal  example  of  the  power  of  Jesus'  blood  to  cleanse 
the  vilest  sinner. 

"  Let  our  lives  be  such  that  when  we  are  called  upon  to 
step  out  from  the  ranks  of  the  living  and  take  our  places  in 
the  shadowy  procession  of  the  dead,  we  may  be  able,  as 
Jerry  was,  to  look  back  upon  years  spent  in  earnest  work 
for  the  Master,  and  looking  forward  and  upward  say  with 
Jerry,  '  It's  all  right.'  " 

Mr.  Sidney  Whittemore  then   spoke  of  the  world-wide 


140  A  Grand  Possibility  Illustrated. 

influence  of  the  deceased's  work.  Many  had  gone  out 
from  Water  Street  to  be  missionaries  all  over  the  globe. 
Jerry  was  strong  as  a  lion  for  courage,  yet  had  a  heart  gen- 
tle as  a  woman's.  He  once  spoke  roughly  to  a  man  who 
refused  to  cease  his  musical  performances  during  the  hours 
of  the  Mission  services,  and  afterwards  went  to  the  man  to 
ask  his  forgiveness  for  his  somewhat  hasty  words — and 
this  although  the  man's  insults  had  brought  them  out. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Deems  said  a  stranger  might  well  ask  the 
meaning  of  this  great  audience.  Here  were  the  clergy, 
here  were  men  of  means,  women  of  culture,  all  come  to  pay 
a  tribute  of  respect  to  whom?  To  a  hunted  river-thief. 
It  was  the  romance  of  grace  and  of  Providence.  It  was  not 
his  ancestry,  his  beauty,  his  brains,  or  his  services  to  science 
that  brought  out  these  thousands  of  people.  It  was  all 
because  one  day  in  prison  Jerry  accepted  God's  offer  of 
salvation,  and  took  Christ  as  his  present,  personal,  and 
sufficient  Saviour  then  and  there.  We  could  all  do  that. 
Then  he  was  a  forcible  illustration  of  the  possibility  of  the 
redemption  of  a  human  soul  from  the  bottomless  pit  of  the 
lowest  degradation.  Why  labor  with  such — they  will  fall 
back?  many  asked,  but  here  was  one  man  who  for  sixteen 
years  had  fought  the  battle  against  the  old  sins  and  lusts 
and  passions,  and  had  conquered.  Dr.  Deems  closed  with 
an  eloquent  appeal  to  the  unsaved.  Were  there  not  some 
present  who  had  heard  Jerry's  appeals  from  the  Mission 
platform  and  who  had  not  heeded  them.  Though  Jerry's 
uttered  appeals  had  not  moved  them,  should  not  the  ap- 
peal of  his  silent  lips  win  them  now? 

These  addresses  were  followed  by  the  singing  of  a  solo 
by  Mr.  Stebbins,  who  rendered  it  with  his  usual  tender 


The  Sunlit  Cross.  141 

pathos  amid  the  intense  silence  of  the  audience.  As  he 
sung  the  words, 

11  We  too  must  come  to  the  river  side, 
One  by  one,  one  by  one  ; 
We're  nearer  its  brink  each  evening  tide, 
One  by  one,  one  by  one," 

the  stillness  seemed  almost  painful,  and  it  was  difficult  to 
restrain  the  .  pent-up  feelings  of  the  heart.  The  Rev. 
Wilbur  F.  Watkins  followed  in  a  prayer  that  was  most 
tender  and  touching :  the  choir  sang  "  I  will  sing  of  my 
Redeemer,"  and  Dr.  Prime  invoked  the  apostolic  benedic- 
tion. 

The  casket  containing  the  remains  of  the  deceased  was 
decorated  with  floral  tributes  at  once  chaste  and  beautiful. 
A  cross  lay  thereupon,  and  at  the  close  of  the  prayer 
offered  by  Dr.  Watkins  the  rays  of  sunlight  which  had 
been  streaming  through  the  windows  all  the  afternoon 
reached  the  cross,  and  by  their  effulgence  lit  it  up  with  a 
dazzling  brightness.  It  seemed  as  though  Heaven  would 
bear  shining  witness  to  the  efficacy  of  the  cross  as  the 
power  by  which  our  departed  brother  had  been  lifted  out 
of  darkness  into  light,  out  of  death  into  life.  It  was  a 
most  impressive  incident  and  a  striking  type.  The  light  of 
God's  saving  power  does  fall  on  the  cross  of  Calvary,  and  at 
the  cross  is  light,  the  light  of  hope  and  life  for  all,  no  matter 
how  lowly  nor  how  lost. 

The  service  over,  the  audience  passed  by  the  coffin  to  take 
a  farewell  look  at  the  remains  of  the  honored  missionary, 
nearly  two  hours  being  occupied  by  the  sorrowing  throng  in 
paying  this  tribute  of  respect  to  the  dead.  Next  day  all  that 
was  mortal  of  the  deceased  was  laid  away  in  Woodlawn  Cem- 


142  A  Touching  Incident. 

etery.  There  the  sacred  dust  will  rest  until  the  archangel's 
trump  shall  sound,  and  those  who  have  fallen  asleep  in 
Christ  shall  rise  immortal.  "  Precious  in  the  sight  of  the 
Lord  is  the  death  of  his  saints"  (Psalm  cxvi.  15).  "  Blessed 
are  the  dead  which  die  in  the  Lord  from  henceforth.  Yea, 
saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may  rest  from  their  labors;  and 
their  works  do  follow  them"  (Rev.  xiv.  13). 

"  There  is  no  death  !     The  stars  go  down, 

To  rise  upon  some  fairer  shore  ; 
And  bright  in  heaven's  jewelled  crown 
They  shine  for  evermore." 


The  following  incident,  published  in  the  New  York 
Herald^,  the  time  of  Jerry's  funeral,  serves  to  show  how 
ready  Jerry  was  with  a  word  .of  sympathy  for  any  one  in 
trouble  who  came  across  his  path.  It  shows  also  that  such 
words  are  remembered  and  treasured  even  by  those  whose 
appearance  promises  little  lasting  impression. 

Two  gentlemen— one  of  them  a  representative  of  the 
Herald — were  standing  at  or  near  one  of  the  entrances  of 
the  Tabernacle,  when  a  shabby-looking  old  man,  who  had 
been  lounging  on  the  outskirts  of  the  crowd,  approached 
them  and  said : 

44 '  Beg  pardin,  gents,  but  seein'  as  you  were  kinnected 
here  and  seein'  as  how  I  ain't  posted  on  ways  and  things,  I 
thought  I'd  ask  you  for  a  favor.' 

"Both  of  the  listeners  were  turning  away  expecting  an 
untimely  appeal  for  alms.  But  the  other  said,  '  I've  heard 
it's  the  right  thing  to  send  flowers  and  sich  to  put  on  the 
coffin  of  any  one  who's  bin  good  to  you.  Well,  I  don't 
know,  gents,  whether  I've  got  the  rights  of  it  or  not.  But 
there's  somethin'  here  for  Jerry.' 


A  Lowly  Tribute.  143 

"  He  took  off  his  tall,  battered  hat  as  he  spoke,  and  felt 
in  it  with  trembling  fingers.  '  It  ain't  any  great  shakes,'  he 
said,  and  he  took  out  a  little  bunch  of  white  flowers.  Then 
looking  up,  as  though  to  read  in  the  faces  of  the  listeners 
approval  or  disapproval,  he  went  on,  apologetically  : 
'  They're  no  great  shakes,  I  allow,  and  I  'spect  they  mayn't 
set  off  the  roses  and  things  rich  people  send.  I'm  a  poor 
man,  you  know,  but  when  I  heard  Jerry  was  gone,  I  gets 
up  and  says  to  myself,  "  Go  on  and  do  what's  fash'nable ; 
that's  the  way  folks  do  when  they  want  to  show*  a  dead 
man's  done  a  heap  for  'em."  So  there  they  are.' 

"The  usher  took  them. 

" '  And  when  you  drop  'em  with  the  rest,  though  they 
ain't  no  great  shakes,'  he  added,  with  the  old  apologetic 
look,  '  Jerry,  who  was  my  friend,  '11  know,'  and  his  voice 
trembled ;  'he'll  know  they  come  from  old  Joe  Chappy.' 

"  '  What  did  he  do  for  you  ?'  the  reporter  ventured. 

"  '  A  great  deal,'  the  old  man  replied.  '  But  it's  long  ago 
now.  My  gal  had  gone  to  the  bad,  and  was  dyin'  without 
ever  a  bite  for  her  to  eat.  I  got  around  drunk,  but  it 
sobered  me,  and  I  hustled  about  to  hunt  up  some  good 
man.  N.  G.  They  asked  if  she  went  to  Sunday-school  and 
all  that.  O'  course  she  didn't.  How  cud  the  poor  gal? 
Well,  they  called  her  names,  sed  she  wus  a  child  o'  wrath, 
and  I  went  away  broken-hearted,  when  I  come  across  Jerry, 
and  he  went  home  with  me  and  comforted  me,  and  he  sed 
that  Almighty  God  wouldn't  be  rough  on  a  poor  gal  what 
didn't  know  no  better.  She  died  then,  but  I  ain't  forgot 
Jerry.' 

"  The  poor  old  wreck  could  not  be  prevailed  upon  to 
enter,  and  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  the  little  bunch  of 
flowers  could  not  reach  the  casket.  But  the  reporter 


144  Preserved  as  a  Treasure. 

thought,  as  he  saw  the  floral  emblems  there,  that  none  of 
them  would  be  sweeter  to  the  dead  than  that  simple 
offering." 

The  incident  is  a  true  one,  and  the  little  bunch  of  white 
flowers  has  been  tenderly  preserved  by  Mrs.  McAuley. 
Who  shall  say  that  the  memory  of  Jerry  and  of  some  fur- 
ther word  spoken  by  him  may  not  be  the  means  even  yet 
of  bringing  the  man  who  gave  them  to  a  knowledge  of 
Jerry's  Saviour? 


Water  Street  Memorial  Service.  145 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ON     THE      OLD      SPOT. 

"The  dead  are  like  the  stars  by  day, 

Withdrawn  from  mortal  eye, 
Yet  holding  unperceived  their  way 
Through  the  unclouded  sky. 

"  By  them,  through  holy  hope  and  love, 

We  feel,  in  hours  serene, 
Connected  with  a  world  above, 
Immortal  and  unseen." 

THE  Memorial  Meeting  held  at  316  Water  Street  on  Sun- 
day afternoon,  September  28,  will  not  be  forgotten  by  those 
who  were  present.  Not  only  were  tributes  of  esteem  to 
the  memory  of  Jerry  McAuley  uttered  by  those  who  were 
coworkers  with  him  or  who  knew  him  and  his  work,  but 
many  who  had  been  led  by  him  to  Christ  testified  as  to 
what  grace  had  done  for  them  through  our  departed 
brother. 

It  was  eminently  appropriate  to  hold  a  memorial  service 
on  the  old  spot  where  he  commenced  his  work,  and  where 
for  so  many  years  God  so  richly  blessed  him  to  the  salva- 
tion of  souls.  The  Mission-hall  was  packed,  and  at  every 
window  were  persons  who  could  not  find  room  inside,  but 
bore  the  discomfort  of  standing  all  the  way  through,  listen- 
ing with  deepest  attention. 

The  exercises  commenced  precisely  at  the  hour  arranged, 
half-past  two,  and  continued  for  two  full  hours  with  unflag- 
10 


146  A  Memorable  Song. 

ging  interest.  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk  presided,  and  after 
the  congregation  had  sung  the  hymn,  "  They  are  gathering 
homeward  one  by  one,"  called  on  Rev.  J.  W.  Sanford  to 
read  from  the  Bible  and  pray.  The  Scriptures  selected  were 
most  appropriate,  and  were  impressively  read,  the  prayer 
was  simple  and  solemn,  and  then  we  sang  the  words,  "  I 
heard  the  Saviour  say,  etc."  The  chorus  brought  to  Gen. 
eral  Fisk's  recollection  some  of  the  scenes  in  the  old  Mission 
building,  which  preceded  the  one  in  which  we  met  on  this 
Sabbath  afternoon.  Often  in  the  old  days,  when,  kneeling 
with  Jerry  and  his  wife  and  others,  some  soul  was  born  into 
the  Kingdom,  Jerry  would  say,  "sing 'Jesus  paid  it  all.'" 
Reference  was  made  to  the  memorial  meeting  of  the  pre- 
vious Sabbath  at  Broadway  Tabernacle.  The  audience  on 
that  occasion  the  speaker  likened  to  a  slice  of  metropolitan 
life  cut  lengthways,  so  that  there  was  some  of  the  top  crust, 
some  of  the  bottom  crust,  and  some  of  all  between.  The 
best  of  saints  and  the  most  sinful  of  all  were  there.  Men 
high  in  financial  circles,  in  social  life,  and  in  professional  life, 
were  the  pall-bearers  in  the  funeral  procession  which  wended 
its  way  from  104  West  Thirty-second  Street  to,  the  Taber- 
nacle. A  stranger  might  have  asked,  Who  is  this  at  whose 
death  the  city  is  stirred?  Was  he  a  great  warrior  whose 
sword  saved  the  Republic?  No!  although  he  was  a  victor, 
his  victories  were  those  of  mercy,  not  of  carnage.  He 
was  not  a  statesman  eminent  in  the  forum.  He  was  a  sim- 
ple, unlettered  man.  On  his  coffin  were  the  words,  "  Died 
September  18,  1884.  Jeremiah  McAuley,  aged  45  years." 
That  was  the  story. 

He  had  been  one  of  the  worst  of  men,  but  became  one 
of  the  best,  simply  through  the  blood  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Accepting  Christ  for  himself,  he  had  been  used 


Swearing  Johnny  s  Conversion.  147 

of  God  to  preach  the  Gospel  by  his  words  and  by  his 
walk. 

General  Fisk  spoke  of  his  early  association  with  Jerry  in 
the  work,  and  of  its  extended  influence.  In  Liverpool  one 
night  he  heard  a  rough-looking  sailor  speak  in  a  seamen's 
mission-meeting.  Though  the  man  was  rough  his  face 
shone.  "  I  found  Jesus  over  there  in  America,"  he  said, 
and  all  who  heard  him  listened  in  wonder.  This  man  was 
known  as  Swearing  Johnny.  "  When  we  were  paid  off  I 
took  my  money  to  the  saloons,  and  then  pretty  soon  I 
was  drunk  again.  Then  I  went  out  into  the  street,  and 
the  snow  was  beating  against  my  face.  As  I  passed  along 
the  street  I  heard  singing,  and  stopped  to  listen.  I  heard 
them  sing  '  Jesus  loves  even  me.'  '  I'll  go  in  and  see  about 
it,'  I  said  to  myself."  He  went  in  and  there  he  saw  "  that 
wonderful  man,  Jerry  McAuley,"  and  he  led  him  to  Christ. 
"Yes,"  said  his  wife,  "and  it  has  been  nothing  but  Jerry 
McAuley  and  '  Jesus  loves  even  me  '  ever  since  Johnny's 
ship  came  home."  At  Marseilles  General  Fisk  heard  a 
very  similar  testimony  from  another  redeemed  man,  and 
Mrs.  McAuley,  he  said,  had  letters  from  all  parts  of  the 
globe — letters  baptized  with  many  tears — which  testified 
to  the  work  done  by  this  one  good  man.  The  speaker  con- 
cluded with  an  earnest  appeal  for  renewed  consecration. 
"  Let  us  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to  the  service,"  he 
said.  "  Catch  the  standard  ere  it  falls.  In  the  first  regi- 
ment I  led  into  the  field  in  the  war,  the  boy  who  carried 
the  banner  fell  almost  at  the  first  firing;  his  brother  sprang 
forward  and  grasped  the  standard,  so  that  our  flag  never 
went  down.  See  that  the  standard  that  Jerry  has  dropped 
be  not  allowed  to  fall." 

One  of  the  early  and  most  helpful  friends  of  the  deceased 


148  Hand  Picked  Souls. 

missionary  was  the  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge,  now  in  glory. 
He  was  often  in  the  Mission  meeting,  and  knelt  with  those 
who  sought  salvation  and  prayed  and  labored  with  them. 
The  memory  of  his  love  of  the  work  made  it  all  the  more 
pleasant  to  hear  from  his  son,  the  Rev.  E.  Stuart  Dodge. 
He  likened  Jerry  to  a  jewel  taken  up  from  the  depths,  but 
the  speaker  would  have  us  glory  not  in  Jerry  McAuley  but 
in  the  grace  magnified  in  him.  We  must  remember  in 
speaking  of  him  that  he  always  glorified  his  Master.  He 
told  men  and  women  that  Jesus  could  save.  Poor  lost 
souls  came  to  him  and  heard  that  there  was  a  Saviour 
mighty  to  save,  and  so  were  converted.  Jerry  honored  the 
Gospel  as  revealed  in  the  Bible.  He  read  the  Bible,  talked 
the  Bible,  preached  the  Bible.  It  was  God's  Word,  and  in 
it  was  revealed  the  power  of  God  to  save.  Jerry  believed 
in  prayer.  When  he  prayed  he  did  not  pray  all  around  the 
universe.  If  he  was  interested  in  a  soul  he  just  prayed  for 
that  particular  soul,  and  God  heard  and  saved.  Moreover, 
Jerry  believed  in  hand-picked  souls.  The  best  fruit  is  not 
shaken  from  the  tree,  but  picked  by  hand,  one  by  one. 
So  he  would  hold  up  Christ  before  one  soul.  He  believed 
in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  did  not  believe  that 
his  efforts  or  anybody's  else  would  save.  He  believed  that 
God's  Spirit  would  bless  the  truth  about  the  blood  so  that 
it  would  do  its  own  convicting  and  converting  work.  "  What 
a  difference  this  truth  worked  in  him  !  Once  a  dock  thief, 
Jerry  McAuley  went  up  to  heaven,  his  arms  all  full  of 
sheaves.  Let  us  magnify  and  honor  the  Gospel  of  God, 
which  makes  such  a  change  !"  Two  thoughts  the  speaker 
impressed  in  closing.  "  If  there  is  one  here  who  has  not 
given  his  heart  to  the  Saviour,"  he  said,  "  remember  that 
God  saved  Jerry  McAuley,  and  He  can  save  you.  God 


Recollections  of  Jerry.  149 

lifted  Jerry  up,  and  you  have  no  right,  therefore,  to  despair 
or  to  doubt  God's  mercy.  Christian  workers,  since  God 
used  this  instrument  for  His  own  mighty  purposes,  no  one 
can  say,  '  God  cannot  use  me.'  We  cannot  do  Jerry 
McAuley's  work,  but  we  can  do  our  work  as  Jerry  did  his — 
with  consecrated  hearts  and  true  faith." 

Rev.  E.  D.  Murphy  was  the  next  speaker.  He  has  been 
pastor  of  the  Mariners'  Church  on  Catherine  Street  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  He  said  that'  thinking  of  what 
Water  Street  was  twenty  years  ago,  this  audience  seemed 
perfectly  wonderful.  It  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  worst 
streets  in  the  city.  He  recollected  the  first  religious  meet- 
ing attempted  there.  He  recalled,  too,  the  first  time  that 
he  ever  saw  Jerry  McAuley.  The  latter  was  rather  a 
rough-looking  man  then.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  John 
Allen  excitement  that  Jerry  came  to  him  and  said,  "  I've 
served  the  devil  very  faithfully  in  the  Fourth  Ward  "  (the 
Bloody  Fourth,  it  was  often  called  then),  "  and  now  I  want 
to  try  to  do  something  for  the  people  there.  If  some  per- 
son would  rent  a  building,  I  would  fit  it  for  men  who  have 
just  come  out  of  State's  Prison."  He  would  have  cots  for 
them  to  sleep  on,  and  bread  and  coffee  to  give  them  in  the 
morning,  he  said,  and  have  a  prayer-meeting  for  them  in  the 
evening.  Mr.  Murphy  had  no  doubt  of  Jerry's  honesty, 
sincerity,  and  earnestness ;  but  he  must  confess  that  he  did 
doubt  the  man's  ability  and  judgment.  Not  liking  to  dis- 
courage him,  he  recommended  him  to  see  Mr.  A.  S.  Hatch, 
and  Rev.  G.  J.  Mingins,  the  city  missionary  in  that  ward. 
The  next  thing  Dr.  Murphy  heard  about  it  was  that  a  build- 
ing had  been  rented  and  the  work  was  begun.  "  We  learn 
that  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways,"  said  the  speaker 
"  Who  would  ever  have  thought  of  selecting  Jerry  for  the 


1 50  Coming  to  Close  Quarters. 

work  he  did.  But  Jesus  died  to  save  sinners,  and  in  His 
sight  a  thief's  soul  is  as  precious  as  any.  God  desired  to 
reach  such,  and  so  made  choice  of  one  of  the  least  promis- 
ing, and  baptized  him  and  filled  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  told  him  to  go  to  work."  Jerry's  ready  mother-wit, 
the  tenderness  of  his  appeals  to  the  unsaved,  his  prayers,  so 
simple,  tender,  gentle,  as  though  talking  with  the  Lord,  and 
his  personal  work  with  souls,  passed  under  review.  Then 
Dr.  Murphy  said  that  hundreds  of  sailors  had  come  under 
his  notice  in  his  church  work,  who  had  been  led  to  Christ 
by  Jerry  McAuley.  Every  single  night  Jerry  had  hold  of 
somebody. 

Dr.  Murphy  concluded  his  remarks  by  emphasizing  the 
value  of  personal  work  with  souls.  In  connection  with  his 
house  of  worship  are  eight  or  nine  inquiry-rooms  which 
have  proved  the  birthplace  of  many  souls.  In  personal  con- 
versation men  cannot  pass  the  truth  presented  over  to  their 
neighbors.  They  know  it  is  addressed  to  them  individually. 
At  the  close  of  the  address  two  of  the  members  of  Dr. 
Murphy's  choir  sang  a  duet : 

"  We  shall  sleep,  but  no*  'crever, 
There  awaits  a  glorious  dawn, 
We  shall  meet  to  part — no  never,  etc." 

General  Fisk  said  he  had  letters  from  some  of  the  Cre- 
morne  Mission  trustees,  expressing  regret  at  their  inability 
to  attend  the  service,  owing  to  absence  from  town.  Messrs. 
J.  Noble  Stearns,  John  H.  Boswell,  Samuel  E.  Hiscox,  and 
James  Talcott  were  all  heard  from.  The  latter  closed  with 
these  words :  "  As  we  hold  this  service  in  his  memory,  may 
our  own  hearts  be  filled  with  a  deeper  love  for  Christ,  and 
our  lives  receive  a  fresh  impulse  to  work  for  souls,  that  the 


jerry  as  a  Commentator.  151 

world  shall  not  be  poorer  because  this  brave,  true  heart  has 
gone  to  its  reward." 

Mr.  A.  S.  Hatch,  another  of  the  trustees,  and  who  was 
used  under  God  as  a  sheet-anchor  for  Jerry  McAuley  when 
the  latter  started  on  his  career  as  a  Christian  worker,  fol- 
lowed with  an  address.  The  chairman  said  that  Jerry  would 
often  speak  to  him  of  Mr.  Hatch's  good  help.  "  I  could 
not  have  struggled  on  to  success,"  the  redeemed  man  would 
say,  "  had  it  not  been  for  the  brotherly  sympathy  and  help- 
fulness that  Christ  Jesus  inspired  toward  me  in  the  heart  of 
Mr.  Hatch.  He  trusted  me,  General,  and  that's  what  saved 
me." 

Mr.  Hatch  said  that  he  loved  Jerry  with  a  love  and  sor- 
rowed for  him  with  a  sorrow  which  could  not  be  expressed 
in  words,  and  he  would  not  therefore  attempt  to  speak  of 
his  own  emotions  at  his  death.  But  here  on  the  spot  where 
Jerry  first  bore  testimony  to  the  power  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
to  save,  and  where  he  first  commenced  his  work,  the  speaker 
thought  it  peculiarly  fitting  to  draw  some  lessons  from  his 
life.  He  was  a  remarkable  man  in  many  respects.  Almost 
without  worldly  education  he  became  by  grace  and  prayer 
and  the  study  of  God's  Word  learned  in  the  wisdom  that  is 
from  above.  He  had  a  remarkably  vivid  apprehension  of 
those  portions  of  Scripture  which  are  particularly  adapted 
to  the  class  whom  he  mainly  sought  to  reach.  Those  who 
had  heard  him  speak  of  the  prodigal  s<?n,  of  the  thief  on  the 
cross,  of  the  publican  in  the  temple,  of  the  woman  taken  in 
adultery,  or  of  her  who  washed  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  her 
tears  and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  would 
never  forget  it.  The  sweetness  and  tenderness  which  grace 
had  infused  into  that  naturally  rough  nature  were  wonder- 
ful to  see,  and  would  ever  be  remembered  by  those  who 


1 5 2  Jerrys  Last  " Slip. " 

had  seen  them  poured  out  over  kneeling  and  repentant 
sinners,  or  experienced  them  in  private  relations  of  personal 
friendship.  It  was  beautiful  to  see  the  flowers  and  fruits 
of  grace  blossoming  and  ripening  on  the  branches  which 
Jesus  had  grafted  on  that  rugged  trunk.  A  more  earnest, 
faithful,  conscientious,  and  devoted  laborer  for  the  Master 
whom  he  loved,  and  for  the  lost  men  and  women  over  whom 
his  heart  yearned,  never  lived  than  Jerry  McAuley.  Jerry 
loved  to  proclaim  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save  to  the  utter- 
most all  who  come  to  God  by  him.  It  was  not  two  weeks 
since  the  speaker  was  asked  if  he  believed  there  were  any 
permanent  results  from  this  mission  work.  "  Why,  look  at 
Jerry,"  was  the  reply;  "he  has  stood."  "Well,  perhaps 
he'll  slip,"  was  the  inquirer's  response.  When  Mr.  Hatch 
told  Mrs.  McAuley  of  this  incident  a  day  or  two  previously, 
she  replied,  "Yes,  he  has  slipped — slipped  into  heaven." 
The  speaker  said  that  the  truth  proclaimed  by  Jerry  so  con- 
stantly in  his  life,  namely,  Christ's  power  to  save  to  the  ut- 
termost, had  been  enforced  and  emphasized  by  Jerry's 
death.  His  steadfastness  to  the  end  and  his  triumphant 
death  had  silenced  forever  the  doubting  suggestion  that 
he  might  yet  fall  away.  He  could  not  fall  now.  Another 
lesson  learned  was  that  it  paid  to  work  for,  and  spend 
time  and  money  for  the  redemption  of,  the  outcast  and  de- 
graded. It  was  worth  while  to  spend  time  and  money  on 
any  soul  for  whom  Christ  had  died. 

In  concluding  Mr.  Hatch  said  that  to  the  unsaved  sinner, 
despairing  perhaps  because  so  low  down  in  sin  that  he  thinks 
there  is  no  salvation  for  him,  Jerry  seemed  to  be  saying 
still,  "  Look  at  me !  Jesus  saved  me  :  there  is  hope  for  you." 
To  the  child  of  God  he  said  that  no  labor,  money,  or  pains 
spent  in  proclaiming  the  Gospel  to  the  lost  and  perishing  is 


Tributes  from  the  Converts  153 

spent  in  vain.  If  Jerry's  death  should  enforce  these  lessons, 
he  would  not  have  died  in  vain. 

The  order  of  the  meeting  was  then  changed.  The  ap- 
pointed speakers  had  accomplished  their  tasks,  and  those 
who  owed  their  conversion  to  Jerry  McAuley,  as  God's 
chosen  instrument  in  connection  with  his  Water  Street 
work,  were  asked  to  speak.  Mr.  J.  F.  Shorey,  the  superin- 
tendent of  the  Water  Street  Mission,  said  he  was  saved  in 
connection  with  Messrs.  Moody  and  Sankey's  meetings  in 
New  York,  eight  years  ago.  He  had  not  long  been  intimate- 
ly acquainted  with  Jerry  personally,  but  he  had  become  very 
familiar  with  the  results  of  his  work,  as  he  had  heard  so 
many  testify  how  Jerry  had  led  them  to  Christ. 

Several  converts  followed,  and  their  testimonies  were 
most  touching,  full  of  expressions  of  gratitude  to  God  for 
having  brought  them  under  Jerry's  influence. 

Of  one  of  these  tributes  of  gratitude — first  to  God,  and 
then  to  Jerry — a  full  report  was  kept.  It  was  the  tribute 
of  a  young  man.  He  said  : 

"  It  was  eight  years  ago  last  February  that  I  came  from 
my  home  in  Brooklyn  to  the  Water  Street  Mission.  I  had 
never  heard  testimonies  before,  but  then  I  heard  young 
men  saying  how  happy  they  had  been  since  Jesus  saved 
them.  I  thought  that  if  he  saved  them  he  would  save 
me.  I  had  a  good  home  and  Christian  parents,  but  I  was 
not  happy,  for  I  was  sinning  against  God.  Jerry  got  hold 
of  me,  and  bid  me  go  up  to  the  bench,  and  the  friends 
would  pray  for  me.  Well,  I  determined  to  put  my  trust  in 
God's  promises,  and  that  night  I  started  in  the  new  way. 
Next  night  I  went  to  the  Mission  again.  I  had  not  had  a 
good  day.  I  had  not  acted  as  a  Christian ;  so  when  Jerry 
asked  me,  '  How  do  you  feel  to-day ;  how  have  you  got 


1 54  That  Dear  Old  Bench. 

along?1  I  told  him  it  had  been  a  pretty  poor  day  with  me. 
4  Well,  don't  be  discouraged/  he  replied,  and  then  bid  me 
go  again  to  the  bench  and  pray.  I  had  a  happier  day  next 
day.  In  the  evening  Jerry  said  to  me,  '  Well,  how  has  it 
been  to-day?'  Then  when  I  told  him  that  I  had  been 
happier  and  had  felt  Christ's  keeping  power,  he  responded, 
4  Get  up  and  tell  us  about  it  then.'  This  was  eight  years 
ago,  and  Jesus  saves  me  to-day.  One  night  I  remember 
that  some  sailors  were  at  the  bench — that  dear  old  bench — 
where  so  many  found  the  Saviour.  We  almost  reverenced 
it !  One  of  these  sailors  longed  to  trust  the  Saviour,  but 
could  not  see  the  way  clear.  How  could  he  trust  so  as  to 
be  kept  safe  henceforth?  That  was  the  question.  Said 
Jerry,  4 Can't  you  trust  the  Lord  from  here  to  the  door?' 
Yes,  he  thought  he  could  do  that.  '  Then  can't  you  trust 
Him  from  the  door  to  the  corner?'  was  the  next  question. 
Light  burst  into  the  man's  heart  and  beamed  upon  his  face, 
and  he  exclaimed,  '  I  see  the  whole  of  it,  glory  to  God."  It 
is  just  trusting  Jesus,  simply  trusting  every  day.  I  have 
not  only  Christian  parents  now,  but  I  have  a  Christian  wife 
too.  I  owe  my  salvation  and  all  the  blessing  that  has 
come  since  under  God  to  Jerry  McAuley.  I  put  the  Lord 
Jesus  first  and  Jerry  McAuley  after.  When  men  used  tc 
talk  of  what  Jerry  had  done  for  them,  he  would  say,  '  Don't 
give  me  any  glory,  boys;  give  God  the  glory.  If  I  have 
been  of  any  use  to  you  it  is  all  God  working  through  me.' 
In  Jerry's  death  I  have  lost  one  of  my  best  friends." 

Could  any  words  have  more  forcibly  shown  first  Jerry's 
humility,  and  next  his  apt  way  of  dealing  with  souls?  He 
encouraged  new  converts  in  the  early  days  of  their  Christian 
life ;  when  they  felt  that  they  had  made  any  progress  and 
overcome  any  temptation  through  Christ,  he  would  have 


Jerry  s  Humility.  i  5  5 

them  rise  and  testify.  The  testimony  helped  and  strength- 
ened the  converts  who  uttered  it ;  encouraged  other  con- 
verts, and  impressed  those  who  were  yet  in  the  darkness 
and  bondage  of  sin.  How  suggestive,  too,  the  words, 
"  Don't  give  me  any  glory,  boys  !"  To  be  successful  in 
Christian  work,  self  must  be  kept  down,  and  Christ  must  be 
exalted.  In  Water  Street,  at  the  Cremorne  Mission,  any- 
where, everywhere,  God  honors  those  who  seek  to  honor 
and  glorify  Him. 


1 56  Mr.  Hatch's  Reminiscences. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CHARACTERISTIC  SKETCHES  AND  PERSONAL  RECOLLECTIONS 
OF  JERRY  MCAULEY. 

BY  A.  S.  HATCH. 

The  ways  of  God  are  oft  beyond  our  ken, 
And  wiser  far  than  ways  of  mortal  men; 
Whom  man  rejects,  the  Lord  doth  often  use; 
His  corner-stone  the  builders  did  refuse. 

I  BECAME  acquainted  with  Jerry  McAuley  about  the  time 
of  his  restoration  from  the  sad  relapse  into  which  he  had 
fallen  after  his  release  from  Sing  Sing  prison.  The  desper- 
ate and  reckless  life  which  he  had  led  in  the  interval,  as 
bounty-broker,  gambler,  prize-fighter,  rough,  drunkard,  and 
river-thief,  is  graphically  portrayed  in  his  autobiography. 

All  this,  with  his  previous  criminal  and  prison  life,  had 
left  an  unmistakable  impress  upon  him,  and  his  appearance 
told  plainly  enough  what  he  had  been. 

To  the  ordinary  observer  he  was  perhaps  as  hard  and  hope- 
less a  looking  case  as  one  would  be  likely  to  encounter  in 
tramping  the  worst  streets  of  New  York  day  and  night  for 
a  month ;  and  in  his  dull  eye,  rough  aspect,  and  illiterate 
speech,  there  was  little  promise  of  the  future  evangelist,  or 
of  the  wonderful  career  of  consecrated  usefulness  in  the  sal- 
vation of  depraved  and  outcast*  men  and  women  and  of 
Christian  influence,  reaching  to  all  classes  in  life,  which  has 
since  made  his  name  familiar,  and  his  life  and  work  a  sacred 


The  Wickedest  Man  in  New  York.  157 

memory,  among  those  who  love  Jesus  and  believe  in  His 
power  to  save.  It  would  have  been  a  penetrating  eye  and  a 
lively  faith  indeed  that  could  at  that  time  have  transfigured 
Jerry,  in  imagination,  into  an  instrument  of  moral  and  re- 
ligious force  in  the  world,  even  in  the  hands  of  Divine 
power. 

It  is  with  no  irreverent  memory  of  my  dead  friend  that  I 
sketch  this  picture  of  him  as  he  then  appeared.  It  is  only  a 
dim  reflection  of  the  portrait  which,  with  inimitable  effect  of 
mingled  pathos  and  drollery,  he  used  to  paint  of  himself  as 
he  was  when  the  missionary  found  him  in  his  den  in  Cherry 
Street ;  not  that  he  gloried  in  the  picture,  or  in  the  revela- 
tions of  sin  and  crime  of  which  it  was  the  product,  but 
because  he  gloried  in  the  power  of  Jesus  to  save,  and  loved 
to  magnify  that  power,  and  to  illustrate  it  by  what  was  to 
him  its  most  real  and  conscious  manifestation — the  contrast 
between  what  sin  had  once  made  him,  and  that  to  which 
grace  had  redeemed  him. 

Shortly  before  the  time  of  which  I  am  writing,  Mr.  Oliver 
Dyer,  a  vigorous  writer  on  current  local  events,  had  written 
and  published  in  Packard's  Monthly  for  July,  1868,  an  arti- 
cle entitled  "  The  Wickedest  Man  in  New  York,"  which  had 
a  wide  circulation  and  excited  a  profound  interest.  It  was 
extensively  reproduced  in  the  daily  and  weekly  papers 
throughout  the  country,  and  eagerly  read  by  all  classes.  It 
was  a  revelation  to  many  of  the  moral  and  Christian  people 
of  New  York  and  elsewhere,  who  had  before  known  nothing 
of  the  inner  life  of  the  dance-houses,  rat-pits,  and  other  cen- 
tres of  vice  and  human  degradation  with  which  Water 
Street  and  its  surrounding  thoroughfares  were  at  that  time 
crowded.  It  brought  down  on  that  previously  benighted 
region  an  army  of  curiosity-seekers,  clergymen,  missionaries, 


158  In  the  Lions  Den. 

religious  enthusiasts,  and  others,  who  contemplated  the  scene 
of  the  "  Wickedest  Man's"  exploits  with  varied  emotions 
and  comments.  Some  good  people  were  distressed  with  the 
thought  that  Oliver  Dyer  had  only  succeeded  in  advertising 
the  dreadful  business  on  which  the  locality  thrived,  and,  by 
investing  it  with  a  spice  of  romance,  had  only  made  its 
naked  repulsiveness  more  alluring  to  the  vicious  tastes  of 
many  who  had  previously,  shunned  it  as  too  deep  a  depth 
for  them.  But  the  keen  wits  of  the  proprietors  of  the  dens 
which  filled  the  neighborhood,  and  their  practical  eye  to 
financial  results,  soon  grasped  the  true  outcome  of  it  all ;  and 
they  hit  the  nail  on  the  head  when  they  said  with  blunt 
sincerity,  "  It  has  spoiled  our  business.  All  these  white  cho- 
kers and  black  coats,  and  all  this  respectability,  and  hymn- 
singin',  and  prayin',  and  preachin',  are  keeping  away  our  cus- 
tomers ;  and  these  fellows  don't  buy  any  beer  or  whiskey,  or 
dance  with  the  girls."  And  after  a  few  months  many  of 
them  had  thrown  up  the  sponge  and  quit  in  disgust. 

Meanwhile  some  of  the  missionaries  and  workers  con- 
nected with  the  Howard  Mission  had  been  exploring  this 
moral  wilderness,  and  among  other  noted  apostles  of  vice, 
had  fallen  in  with  John  Allen,  the  "  Wickedest  Man"  of 
Oliver  Dyer's  article. 

Allen  was  of  respectable  family,  and  a  man  of  good  intel; 
ligence,  fair  education,  and  considerable  means.  Two  or 
three  of  his  brothers  were  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  At  this 
time  he  seemed  to  glory  in  the  audacity  and  hardihood  with 
which  he  sinned  against  light.  His  dance-house  was  a  place 
of  the  vilest  resort,  and  he  ruled  with  an  iron  hand  and  a 
heart  of  stone  the  wretched  women  who  inhabited  it,  and 
the  hapless  sailors  and  others  whom  they  enticed  into  it. 
By  some  peculiar  tact,  aided  by  the  mysterious  influences  of 


Prayer  in  a  Dance-house.  159 

Divine  grace,  the  missionaries  and  the  Christian  gentlemen 
who  accompanied  them  in  frequent  visits  to  this  vile  den, 
found  their  way  to  the  good  graces  of  its  hardened  master. 

One  day  they  proposed  that  he  should  permit  them  to 
hold  a  prayer-meeting  that  evening  in  his  dance-hall.  In  a 
spirit  of  good-humored  bravado  he  told  them  they  might 
try  it  if  they  liked,  and  take  the  consequences,  but  refused 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  it  himself.  That  evening,  after 
the  scraping  of  the  fiddle  and  the  shuffling  of  feet  had 
ceased,  one  of  them  stepped  quietly  into  the  room,  and 
kneeling  in  the  middle  of  the  sanded  floor,  said,  "  Let  us 
pray  ;"  and  before  the  astonished  company  had  taken  in  the 
meaning  of  the  unwonted  spectacle,  he  was  pouring  out,  in  a 
voice  thrilling  with  emotion,  his  eyes  streaming  with  tears, 
an  earnest  prayer  to  God  for  the  souls  of  all  present,  from 
John  Allen  down  to  the  wretched  fiddler  in  his  corner. 
The  effect  was  magical.  Instead  of  the  expected  scoffs  and 
gibes  which  Allen  had  predicted,  and  which  the  brave  mis- 
sionary had  braced  himself  with  the  enthusiasm  of  martyr- 
dom to  meet,  there  was  utter  silence  for  a  few  minutes, 
save  the  voice  of  prayer,  and  then  a  sob  here  and  there, 
and  finally  tears  and  sobs  all  around  that  room,  whose  walls 
had  heretofore  echoed  only  the  profane  and  obscene  speech 
and  the  hollow  laughter  of  undisguised  licentiousness  and 
riot. 

These  events  marked  the  beginning  of  the  "  John  Allen 
Excitement"  as  it  was  called,  to  which  Jerry  refers  in  his 
autobiography. 

Allen  himself  so  far  yielded  to  moral  and  religious  in- 
fluences as  to  become  thoroughly  ashamed  of  his  wretched 
business,  and  to  abandon  it.  He  offered  his  house  for  reli- 
gious meetings,  which  for  a  while  were  continued  there,  took 


1 60  Conversion  0/316  Water  Street. 

part  in  them  himself,  and  expressed  a  desire  for  reformation 
and  a  better  life.  He  was,  after  all,  a  man  with  a  tender 
spot  in  his  heart.  He  has  come  to  me  and  told  me  of  his 
struggles  with  the  demons  that  had  taken  up  their  abode  in 
his  soul,  and  has  laid  his  head  on  my  shoulder  and  sobbed 
like  a  child,  as  he  told  me  that  he  would  give  all  he  had  in 
the  world  to  bring  back  the  pure  influences  of  his  child- 
hood, and  blot  out  the  record  of  his  sinful  and  debauched 
life.  He  was,  however,  a  vain  man,  and  courted  the  noto- 
riety of  being  held  up  as  a  hard  case  reformed.  He  was 
saturated  with  vice  and  with  the  appetite  for  drink,  and, 
although  manifestly  touched  and  moved,  he  did  not  seem 
to  show  those  evidences  of  thorough  reformation,  and  of 
the  work  of  grace  in  his  heart,  which  those  interested  in 
him  hoped  at  one  time  to  witness.  He  never  went  back  to 
the  miserable  business  in  which  he  had  been  so  long  en- 
gaged, but  opened  a  respectable  grocery-store  in  Roosevelt 
Street,  and  died  a  few  years  afterward.  It  is  not  for  human 
eye  to  discern,  or  human  tongue  or  pen  to  say,  that  the 
influences  of  the  remarkable  religious  outburst,  in  which  he 
had  unwittingly  cut  so  conspicuous  a  figure,  were  lost  upon 
him,  or  that  on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  or  midway  in  its 
swelling  stream,  he  did  not  meet  and  know  the  Saviour 
who  had  died  for  him,  and  hear  repeated  the  gracious 
words  that  had  opened  the  gates  of  Paradise  to  a  dying 
thief  on  Calvary,  eighteen  hundred  years  before. 

After  meetings  had  been  held  in  his  dance-house  for 
a  while,  it  was  thought  best  to  transfer  them  to  another 
place,  and  the  lease  of  a  neighboring  notorious  dance-house 
was  bought  out  and  the  work  transferred  to  it.  •  This  was 
No.  316  Water  Street,  where  Jerry  McAuley  first  publicly 
testified  of  salvation  and  where  he  afterward  commenced 


Preaching  in  Strange  Places.  161 

his  own  work,  and  where  the  "  McAuley  Water  Street  Mis- 
sion" now  stands. 

I  have  thought  that  the  foregoing  brief  sketch  of  the 
beginning  of  active  Christian  work  in  Water  Street  would 
be  of  interest  to  many  not  familiar  with  its  history,  and 
would  not  be  inappropriate  here,  on  account  of  Jerry's  refer- 
ence to  it,  and  its  connection  with  his  own  restored  life  and 
his  subsequent  work  for  the  Master  in  the  same  locality. 

It  seemed  at  that  time  to  those  who  were  actors  in  the 
scenes  to  which  I  have  referred,  almost  as  if  a  veritable 
miracle  was  being  wrought  in  the  opening  to  religious  in- 
fluences and  work  of  this  abandoned  and  vice-ridden  part 
of  the  city ;  as  if  the  Holy  Spirit  went  before  them  and  pre- 
pared the  hearts  of  the  godless  throng  who  inhabited  and 
frequented  it,  and  held  the  mouths  and  hands  of  those  who 
would  before  have  cursed  and  stoned  the  messengers  of  the 
Gospel.  I  have  myself  spoken  from  the  steps  of  John 
Allen's  dance-house  to  a  crowd  rilling  Water  Street  almost 
from  Roosevelt  to  Dover,  and  been  listened  to  with  quiet 
respect,  where  a  few  months  before  it  would  have  been  con- 
sidered as  much  as  a  man's  life  was  worth  to  attempt  to 
hold  a  religious  service  in  the  open  air.  We  held  prayer- 
meetings  in  Kit  Burns'  rat-pit, — a  rough  amphitheatre  in  the 
rear  of  a  bar-room, — with  the  dogs  growling,  and  the  rats 
squealing  in  their  cages  under  the  benches,  while  Kit's  cus- 
tomers, thronging  his  bar-room,  looked  on  in  respectful 
silence,  any  tendency  to  the  contrary  being  promptly  sup- 
pressed by  Kit  himself. 

11 


1 62  Jerry  s  Sincerity. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

RECOLLECTIONS  CONTINUED. 

'  Christ  first  and  last,  Christ  all  day  long, 
My  hope,  my  solace,  and  my  song; 
His  love  so  full,  so  sweet,  so  strong. 
Christ  for  me,  Christ  for  me." 

UNPROMISING  as  Jerry's  appearance  then  was  at  first 
sight,  there  was  something  irresistibly  winning  about  him, 
which  at  once  awakened  the  interest  of  those  who  came 
in  closer  contact  with  him ;  and  I  became  impressed,  before 
I  had  known  him  long,  with  the  sincerity  of  his  purpose, 
and  a  sort  of  sturdy,  manly  independence  and  earnestness 
which  characterized  him.  I  saw  a  good  deal  of  him,  and 
we  became  fast  friends. 

One  of  the  first  evidences  of  the  reality  of  the  change 
which  grace  had  wrought  in  him,  and  of  the  Divine  light  in 
his  conscience,  was  a  prompt  confession  that  he  and  Maria 
were  not  man  and  wife,  and  a  request  for  advice  as  to  what 
they  ought  to  do.  "  Be  married,"  we  said,  "  of  course." 
'Ah!  there's  the  rub,"  said  Jerry. 

Further  conversation  developed  the  fact  that  there  were 
reasons  why  their  immediate  marriage  would  not  be  expe- 
dient. 

We  then  told  him  that  they  must  live  apart  until  Provi- 
dence should  open  the  way  for  their  lawful  union  according 
to  the  ordinance  of  God.  To  this  they  readily  assented. 


A  Wedding  Ceremony.  163 

Maria  lived  for  a  while  in  a  Christian  family  in  New  Jersey, 
and  afterward  went  to  the  home  of  her  parents  in  another 
State  and  remained  a  while.  When  she  came  back,  all 
obstacles  having  been  by  that  time  removed,  they  stood  up 
together  in  the  parlor  of  Howard  Mission,  and  were  sol- 
emnly joined  in  marriage,  the  writer  and  a  few  other 
friends  being  present. 

I  do  not  think  I  ever  in  my  life  assisted^at  a  wedding 
which  afforded  me  more  genuine  satisfaction.  During 
Maria's  absence,  Jerry  used  sometimes  to  bring  me  her 
letters  to  read,  and  talk  with  me  about  their  future  hopes 
and  plans ;  and  in  this  way  their  sincere  affection  for  each 
other  sanctified  by  grace  in  their  regenerated  hearts,  had 
been  revealed  to  me.  Their  mutual  devotion,  and  what  they 
were  to  each  other  through  all  the  trials  and  vicissitudes  of 
their  subsequent  lives,  and  their  final  victory  over  their 
buried  past  in  winning  the  confidence  and  respect  of  all 
who  knew  them,  and  until  death  parted  them,  does  not 
need  to  be  told. 

The  blunt  and  uncompromising  honesty  before  God 
which  the  foregoing  incident  illustrates  was  one  of  the 
immovable  planks  in  Jerry's  religious  platform. 

"  Be  honest  with  God,  and  with  yourself,"  he  used  to  say 
to  those  professing  repentance  and  desire  for  a  better  life, 
and  yet  seeming  to  be  keeping  something  back;  "you  can't 
put  off  any  humbugging  lies  on  Him  ;  you  may  cheat  me, 
and  maybe  cheat  yourself,  but  you  can't  cheat  God.  Turn 
yourself  inside  out,  and  make  a  clean  breast  of  it." 


There  was  little  room  in  Jerry's  heart  for  hatred  of  any- 
thing, after  it  became  filled  up  with  grace  and  with  the 
spirit  of  the  Master  ;  but  he  did  hate  hypocrisy.  This  was 


164  A  Keen  Scent  for  Hypocrites. 

about  the  only  form  of  human  weakness  and  depravity  for 
which  he  did  not  have  unlimited  charity  and  compassion. 
He  could  not  bear  a  hypocrite.  It  seemed  as  though  he 
could  not  breathe  with  patience  the  air  that  was  tainted  with 
his  presence ;  almost  as  though  he  had  a  kind  of  magnetic 
consciousness,  that  there  was  a  hypocrite  somewhere  about, 
before  he  got  within  a  block  of  the  Mission.  He  always 
wanted  to  "  fire  them  out"  and  keep  them  out. 

This  was  about  the  only  point  on  which  Jerry  and  I  ever 
split.  I  used  to  think  sometimes  that  he  was  too  hasty  in 
his  judgment,  and  too  hard  on  those  whom  he  thought  were 
not  honest.  I  used  to  tell  him  that  he  might  mistake 
human  inconsistency  and  the  results  of  human  weakness 
for  hypocrisy,  and  that  there  was  hope  that  even  a  hypo- 
crite might  be  reached  by  Divine  grace,  if  he  kept  coming  to 
the  meetings.  We  had  some  lively  discussions  about  it,  but 
I  could  never  make  much  impression  on  his  convictions  in 
this  respect.  I  had  abundant  occasion  to  admit  that  Jerry 
had  an  uncommonly  keen  scent  for  hypocrisy,  and  sham 
and  fraud  of  every  kind,  and  that  his  intuitions  in  detect- 
ing them  were  generally  correct. 

One  night  in  Water  Street  a  man  who  had  come  forward 
in  the  after-meeting  was  asked  by  Jerry,  as  his  custom  was,  to 
pray  for  himself.  He  began  praying  in  a  conventional  and 
stereotyped  way,  for  all  the  poor  sinners  in  the  room,  for 
the  heathen,  and  for  everything  else  but  his  own  salvation. 
Jerry,  feeling  that  the  true  ring  was  not  there,  kept  still  as 
long  as  he  could,  and  then  turning  to  the  man,  said,  "  Look 
here,  my  friend,  you  had  better  ask  God  to  have  mercy  on 
your  soul,"  in  a  tone  that  would  have  seemed  harsh  and 
unfeeling  to  any  one  who  did  not  know  as  well  as  Jerry 
did  the  kind  of  man  he  was  talking  to. 


A  Peep  at  Jerry  s  Home.  165 

Jerry  and  his  wife  both  had  a  very  vivid  sense  of  the 
change  which  grace  had  wrought  in  their  lives  and  lot. 

I  used  to  visit  them  in  the  humble  lodgings,  always 
scrupulously  neat,  in  which  they  lived  while  Jerry  was  work- 
ing at  one  thing  and  another  that  he  could  find  to  do, 
before  the  Mission  was  opened.  I  had  taken  tea  with  them 
one  night, — they  were  living  in  Division  Street  then, — and 
after  tea  we  sat  talking,  and  they  told  me  a  great  deal 
about  their  past  lives.  Their  thoughts  were  all  of  the 
wonderful  things  that  God  had  done  for  them,  and  their 
talk  of  the  past  seemed  to  bring  home  to  them  with  renewed 
force  that  night  the  blessedness  they  were  then  enjoying. 
After  relating  some  of  the  sad  and  bitter  experiences  which 
sin  had  brought  them,  Maria,  looking  around  the  homely 
but  cheerful  room,  and  then  at  Jerry,  and  then  at  me,  drew 
a  long  breath,  and  with  a  happy  smile  and  glistening  eyes 
said,  "  Can  it  be  possible  this  is  us  ?" 


In  those  early  days  Jerry  set  an  inestimable  value  upon 
every  token  of  trust  in  him.  He  had  been  so  long  hunted 
and  dogged  and  accustomed  to  the  thought  that  he  was  an 
outcast  and  outlaw  whom  nobody  would  trust  out  of  sight 
with  the  value  of  a  cent,  that  it  was  a  new  and  sweet  expe- 
rience to  him  to  be  trusted.  What  a  moral  invigorator  a  little 
timely  confidence  and  reliance  on  his  honor  was  to  him,  and 
may  be  to  others  in  like  circumstances,  as  illustrated  in  one 
or  two  incidents,  was  often  referred  to  in  his  public  tes- 
timonies. He  used  to  say,  after  telling  what  a  miserable 
wretch,  and  moral  and  physical  wreck  he  was  before  Jesus 
picked  him  up,  "  Just  look  at  me  now  [holding  open  his 
coat  and  making  a  comical  gesture  of  looking  himself  over], 
I  have  everything  a  man  could  want.  I  have  plenty  to  eat, 


1 66  Jerry  among  the  Bankers. 

a  good  home  and  good  clothes,  and  /  am  respected  and 
trusted.  Think  of  Jerry  McAuley,  the  biggest  bum  that 
used  to  hang  out  around  this  ward,  turned  into  a  respec- 
table citizen.  Why,  a  few  years  ago,  if  a  man  with  five  dol- 
lars in  his  pocket  met  me  coming  down  the  street,  he'd  cross 
over  on  the  other  side,  and  lucky  for  him  too ;  but  now  I 
go  down  town,  walk  into  a  big  banking-house,  take  an  arm- 
chair, put  up  one  leg  over  the  other,  and  talk  with  the  boss 
as  big  as  life ;  and  they  don't  set  any  detectives  to  watch 
me  either,  or  send  for  a  policeman  to  run  me  out.  This  is 
what  Jesus  has  done  for  me — made  a  man  of  me  ;  and  he 
will  do  it  for  you  too  if  you  will  let  him." 

While  Jerry  was  out  of  work,  before  he  got  steady  em- 
ployment, he  used  to  come  to  me  once  in  a  while  to  see  if  I 
could  put  him  on  the  track  of  something  to  do.  One  day  I 
said  to  him,  "  Jerry,  I  have  got  a  job  for  you  if  you  will  take 
it."  His  eyes  brightened. 

"  I'll  take  anything  that's  honest,"  he  said. 

"  Well,  Jerry,"  I  said,  "  I  have  got  a  little  yacht  down  in 
Gowanus  Bay,  that  wants  watching  until  I  can  sell  it.  Now 
I  want  you  to  go  and  live  on  it,  and  take  good  care  of  it, 
keep  everything  clean  and  in  good  order,  and  see  that 
nobody  runs  off  with  anything,  and  I  will  pay  you  $ —  a 
month  and  your  grub." 

"  Will  you  trust  me  to  do  that  ?"  he  said,  with  an  expres- 
sion on  his  face  that,  between  what  was  to  him  the 
comical  side  of  anybody  trusting  him  with  valuable  prop- 
erty, and  the  emotion  which  the  idea  of  being  trusted 
awakened  when  he  had  fairly  taken  it  in,  was  a  study. 
The  unaccustomed  luxury  of  feeling  that  he  was  trusted, 
got  the  upper  hand,  and  his  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

The  bargain  was  struck,  and  the  next  day  Jerry  took  up 


Confidence  Appreciated.  167 

his  quarters  on  the  little  vessel.  The  boat  had  a  lot  of  sil- 
ver-plated ware  on  board  of  no  great  value  ;  but,  as  Jerry 
told  me  afterwards,  he  thought  it  was  "  all  solid  silver,  and 
worth  a  mint  of  money;"  and,  knowing  that  Gowanus  Bay 
was  infested  with  river  thieves,  he  was  greatly  oppressed 
with  the  responsibility,  and  used  to  lie  awake  nights  with 
his  revolver  cocked,  and  jump  up  and  creep  out  on  deck  at 
the  slightest  sound  of  the  stealthy  dipping  of  oars.  He 
told  me  afterwards  that  he  was  haunted  with  the  fear  that 
something  might  be  stolen  from  the  boat,  and  that  when  it 
was  missed  I  would  think  he  had  betrayed  his  trust,  and  he 
determined  that  if  anybody  got  anything  out  of  that  boat, 
it  should  be  over  his  dead  body.  <l  After  you  had  trusted 
me,  I  couldn't  stand  it,  you  know,  to  have  you  think  ill  of 
me,  and  I  would  have  died  first,"  he  said.  Jerry  often 
used  to  tell  this  story,  portraying  his  anxieties  and  describ- 
ing his  night  encounters  with  imaginary  river-thieves,  with 
inimitable  effect,  and  would  say,  "  When  I  found  I  .was 
trusted  like  that  by  a  man  who  knew  all  about  my  past  life, 
I  began  to  respect  myself  and  think,  '  Jerry  McAuley,  there 
is  a  chance  for  you  after  all,  and  you  will  be  somebody  yet 
before  you  know  it,'  and  it  gave  me  a  big  boost." 


It  was  some  time  before  Jerry  succeeded  in  getting  steady 
employment.  He  worked  for  a  while  on  one  of  the  ferries, 
then  as  a  'longshoreman,  then  on  a  steamship  dock,  always 
ready  to  turn  his  hand  to  anything  by  which  he  could  earn 
an  honest  living.  The  persecutions  of  godless  fellow-work- 
men who  mocked  at  his  religion  ;  the  injustice  of  foremen 
who  encouraged  them,  and  embraced  every  opportunity  to 
place  him  at  a  disadvantage  ;  the  requirement  that  he 
should  work  on  Sunday,  and  other  like  causes,  drove  him 


1 68      A  Serious  Question  and  a  Safe  Answer. 

out  of  these  different  employments  one  after  another. 
These  discouragements,  however,  never  shook  him  from 
his  purpose  to  live  an  honest  life,  and  to  live  it  according  to 
the  light  with  which  the  Holy  Spirit  had  illumined  his  con- 
science. 

After  a  while  the  writer  found  a  vacancy  for  a  porter  in 
a  sewing-machine  establishment  on  Broadway,  where  he  was 
well  known,  which  he  determined  to  secure  for  Jerry.  The 
question  which  persons  interested  in  procuring  employment 
for  ex-convicts  have  often  found  an  embarrassing  one  natu- 
rally arose.  Should  I  tell  them  frankly  what  he  had  been, 
and  try  to  induce  them  to  take  him  and  trust  him,  with  a 
full  knowledge  of  his  past  criminal  life,  and  his  present  pur- 
poses to  serve  God  and  be  an  honest  man  ?  Or  should  I 
suppress  all  this,  and  simply  recommend  him  as  a  man  in 
whom  I  had  confidence,  and  trust  to  the  chances  of  his  past 
remaining  unknown  ?  I  am  aware  that  many  good  people 
have  held  opposite  opinions  as  to  the  best  course  to  be  pur- 
sued in  such  cases.  In  Jerry's  case  it  was  decided  in  what  I 
believe  to  be  tJte  only  right  way,  and  the  best  and  safest  for  the 
reformed  man  or  woman  in  the  end.  I  talked  with  him  about 
it;  told  him  that,  while  it  might  be  more  difficult  at  first  to 
find  a  place  for  him  involving  any  trust  or  responsibility,  if  his 
story  was  frankly  told,  I  was  sure  it  would  be  better  in  the 
long-run  to  be  square  and  open  about  it  and  trust  God ;  that 
if  he  went  into  this  place,  for  example,  under  false  or  con- 
cealed colors,  some  one  might  turn  up  at  any  time  who  had 
known  him,  and,  pointing  him  out,  whisper  in  the  ear  of  his 
employers  or  his  fellow-workmen  that  they  were  harboring 
and  working  side  by  side  with  a  man  who  had  worn  the 
stripes  and  been  behind  the  bars ;  when  he  would  probably  be 
turned  out  in  disgrace,  no  matter  how  honest  and  faithful 


He  would  not  be  a  Fraud.  169 

he  had  been,  and  be  a  marked  man.  Jerry  fully  agreed 
with  me,  and,  with  the  unflinching  honesty  to  which  I  have 
already  referred,  said,  "  I  don't  want  any  hiding  or  dodging. 
I  won't  be  a  fraud  in  any  way,  whatever  else  I  am.  I  want 
to  be  just  Jerry  McAuley,  and  nothing  else."  I  then  went 
to  the  establishment  mentioned,  and  told  them  frankly  about 
Jerry's  past  life — who  and  what  he  was,  and  what  I  knew  he 
was  resolved  hereafter  to  be.  I  told  them  what  I  had  seen 
and  known  of  his  new  life,  and  expressed  my  entire  confi- 
dence in  his  sincerity  and  honesty.  They  looked  grave  at 
first,  but  became  warmly  interested  in  my  account  of  Jerry. 
They  hesitated,  however,  fearing  that  his  past  career  would 
be  discovered,  and  make  trouble  among  the  others.  Finally 
I  said,  "  Take  him  ;  trust  him  ;  make  no  attempt  to  conceal 
his  history ;  let  all  your  other  men  know  that  you  know  all 
about  him,  and  have  taken  him  for  what  he  is,  and  I  will  be 
responsible  for  him  ;  if  he  runs  off  with  anything,  send  me 
the  bill."  They  took  him,  and  he  remained  in  their  employ- 
ment until,  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  confidence  and  respect 
of  the  entire  establishment,  he  left  it  to  open  the  Mission 
in  Water  Street.  When  I  told  him,  after  he  had  been  there 
a  while,  what  I  had  said  to  them,  and  added  laughingly, 
"  If  you  should  get  away  with  a  half-dozen  truck-loads  of 
sewing-machines  some  night  it  might  break  me,"  he  said 
with  an  amused  look,  but  with  emotion,  "  You  shall  never 
be  ashamed  of  me  or  sorry  you  said  that.  If  the  cellar 
where  I  work  was  a  gold  mine,  or  had  diamonds  lying  all 
around  loose,  your  promise  should  never  cost  you  a  cent." 


While  he  was  working  there  I  used  to  call  frequently  to 
see  him.  He  worked  in  the  packing-room  in  the  basement, 
which  had  an  entrance  down  a  flight  of  steps  on  the  side 


1 70  Jerry  s  Love  of  Singing. 

street.  When  I  wanted  to  see  him  I  used  to  run  in  that 
way.  One  day  I  called,  and  did  not  see  him  in  his  usual 
place.  I  waited  a  while,  and  presently  he  came  out  from 
behind  a  pile  of  packing-cases  in  one  corner,  with  a  radiant 
face.  He  said,  "  When  I  get  lonesome  and  discouraged,  and 
feel  the  blues  coming  on,  I  go  down  on  my  knees  behind 
that  great  pile  of  boxes  and  pray,  and  then  I  am  all  right 
again." 


Jerry  was  passionately  fond  of  singing,  and  had  great  faith 
in  its  efficacy  as  a  means  of  grace  to  the  converts,  and  in  its 
power  to  attract  those  whom  he  sought  to  reach.  He 
would  say,  when  a  verse  of  a  hymn  had  not  been  sung  to  suit 
him,  "  Try  that  again ;  sing  as  if  you  meant  it,  and  don't 
go  to  sleep  over  it.  It  will  do  you  good.  Why,  if  people 
should  judge  by  the  way  you  sung  that  verse  they'd  think 
your  religion  was  an  awfully  dull  and  up-hill  business.  Now, 
let's  raise  the  roof;"  and  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he 
would  sing  as  if  his  whole  soul  and  body  went  into  the  hymn. 

Sometimes  at  the  beginning  of  the  meeting,  when  the 
chapel  was  not  filling  up  as  fast  as  he  would  like  to  see  it, 
he  would  give  out  a  hymn  like  "  Pull  for  the  shore,"  or 
"  Let  the  lower  lights  be  burning,"  in  which  there  was  ample 
scope  for  volume  of  sound,  and  say,  "  Open  both  the  doors 
there  wide.  Now  sing  so  they  can  hear  you  clear  down  to 
Dover  Street  and  up  to  James  Slip."  And  they  did. 


He  was  very  impatient  of  long-winded  harangues  in  a 
testimony-meeting,  and  was  inexorable  in  enforcing  the 
"one-minute  rule"  with  which  he  had  placarded  the  chapel, 
even  at  the  expense  of  giving  offence  to  thin-skinned  people 
who  were  unused  to  his  blunt  ways  and  did  not  know 


Suffering  but  Praising.  1 7 1 

the  wealth  of  tender  solicitude  for  sinners  that  lay  under- 
neath his  sharpest  criticisms  and  his  rudest  speech.  "  These 
long-winded  fellows  kill  the  meeting,"  he  would  say. 
"Wind  'em  up  and  set  'em  a-going,  and  they  don't  know 
when  to  stop.  Now  speak  short.  If  you've  come  in  here 
with  a  long  yarn  all  fixed  up  nice,  with  a  beginning  and  a 
middle  and  an  ending,  just  cut  off  both  ends  and  give  us 
the  middle.  I  was  a  poor  drunkard,  a  miserable  loafer  and 
tramp,  without  a  decent  coat  to  my  back,  full  of  wickedness 
and  sin,  and  a  terror  around  this  terrible  ward.  Jesus 
picked  me  up  and  saved  me,  and  has  kept  me  saved.  Glory 
to  His  name !  There's  my  testimony,  and  it  didn't  take  me 
a  minute  to  tell  it  either." 


When  his  health  began  to  fail  and  the  trouble  with  his 
lungs,  the  seeds  of  which  had  perhaps  been  sown  in  those 
dreadful  nights  on  the  river,  had  begun  to  be  serious,  he 
would  sometimes,  after  an  attack  of  pneumonia  or  a  hemor- 
rhage, almost  literally  crawl  down-stairs  to  the  meeting. 
At  such  times  he  would  say,  with  a  tenderness  and  solem- 
nity that  filled  our  hearts  with  emotion  and  our  eyes  with 
tears,  "They  say  I've  got  only  one  lung  and  part  of  another. 
I  am  weak  and  sore,  and  it  hurts  me  sometimes  to  talk ; 
but  I  think  of  what  the  dear  Jesus  suffered  for  me,  and 
my  heart  is  full.  I  am  happy.  Sometimes  I  think  I  can't 
live  very  long;  it  seems  as  if  my  lungs  were  all  gone  ;  but 
while  I've  got  a  piece  of  a  lung  left  I  want  to  use  it  to 
speak  for  Jesus.  I  want  to  praise  Him  with  my  dying 
breath." 


He  had  a  wonderful  faith — a  faith  which  was  childlike  in 
its  simple  and  confiding  trust,  yet  firm  as  a  rock.     It  was  of 


172  Consecrated  Persistency. 

a  very  practical  sort  too.  He  believed  in  direct  and  specific 
answers  to  prayer,  of  which  he  had  frequent  and  unmistak- 
able experiences,  and  in  the  interposition  of  God  in  matters 
unseen  and  unknown  by  us  until  the  need,  and  the  divine 
hand  supplying  it,  are  revealed  to  us  at  the  same  time. 
Once  the  old  building  in  Water  Street  needed  some  repairs, 
and  when  the  plaster  had  been  stripped  off  the  ceiling, 
showing  the  ends  of  the  beams  all  rotted  away,  Jerry  said, 
"  It  seems  as  though  God's  hand  held  up  that  old  second 
floor,  for  there  was  nothing  else  to  hold  it  up ;"  and  he  be- 
lieved it. 


He  was  very  persistent  in  whatever  he  undertook,  in 
accordance  with  what  he  believed  to  be  the  will  of  the 
Lord.  His  obstinacy  in  the  pursuit  of  anything  to  which 
he  was  persuaded  that  God  had  called  him  was  beyond  the 
power  of  human  persuasion  or  reasoning  to  overcome. 

When  he  felt  that  his  work  in  Water  Street  was  done, 
and  that  he  was  called  to  labor  up-town,  I  did  not  think 
it  was  wise  for  him* to  leave  Water  Street,  broken  in  health 
as  he  was,  and  assume  the  responsibilities  and  labors  of  a 
new  enterprise ;  and  I  earnestly  and  honestly  opposed  it. 
But  notwithstanding  his  love  for  me  and  his  respect  for  my 
opinions  my  disapproval  did  not  cause  him  to  falter  or 
waver  for  a  moment,  and  the  Cremorne  Mission  was  the 
result. 

I  was  afterwards  glad  to  see  and  to  acknowledge  that 
Jerry's  divinely-guided  impulses  were  right,  and  that  what 
I  thought  my  cool-headed  judgment  wa«  wrong. 

His  work  and  its  influences  were  not  limited  to  any  par- 
ticular class.  His  principal  aim  was  the  salvation  of  out- 


All  at  One  Fountain.  173 

cast  men  and  women  ;  for  this  he  labored  and  thought  and 
prayed ;  but  his  work  had  a  reflex  influence  which  spread 
out  through  all  classes,  and  by  means  of  it  hundreds  of 
refined  and  cultivated  people  were  led  to  Christ,  and  a  mul- 
titude of  Christians  were  aroused  and  animated  to  higher 
and  better  lives,  and  to  more  earnest  and  believing  work 
for  Jesus. 

He  used  to  say,  after  exhorting  the  drunkards  and  those 
low  down  in  sin  to  come  to  Jesus  and  be  saved,  and  calling 
on  the  Christian  people  present  to  pray  for  them,  "  and 
don't  let  us  forget  the  kid-glove  sinners,  who  need  it  as  bad 
as  any  of  these  poor  fellows."  "God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,"  was  one  of  his  favorite  sayings;  and  nothing  de- 
lighted his  heart  more  than  to  see  a  seal-skin  sacque  or  a 
broadcloth  coat,  at  the  bench  side  by  side  with  an  old  red 
shirt  or  a  ragged  and  dishevelled  dress,  the  wearers  of  both 
taking  in  the  water  of  life  from  the  same  fountain. 


Jerry's  public  speaking  was  often  a  curious  mixture  of 
pathos  and  wit,  quotations  from  Scripture,  and  the  vernacu- 
lar slang  of  the  class  whom  he  addressed.  The  conventional 
notions  of  propriety  of  refined  and  fastidious  Christians 
were  sometimes  startled  and  shocked  by  his  quaint  and 
blunt  speech,  his  mimicry,  his  total  disregard  of  the  tones 
and  manner  which  they  had  previously  regarded  as  insepa- 
rable from  proper  and  becoming  religious  speech,  and  his 
revelations  of  the  sin  and  depravity  of  his  past  life ;  but 
when  they  came  often  enough  to  see  how  all  this  was  sig- 
nally blessed  and  honored  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  men, 
their  jealousy  for  the  proprieties  went  down  before  their 
interest  in  the  results. 

I  have  frequently  seen  Christians  restless  and  ill  at  ease, 


174  Jerrys   Touching  Prayers. 

and  manifestly  disturbed,  as  they  listened  for  the  first  time 
to  one  of  his  characteristic  exhortations  or  testimonies,  and 
afterwards  melted  to  tears,  and  swept  into  resistless  sym- 
pathy with  him,  his  work,  his  methods  and  all,  as  they 
listened  to  one  of  his  indescribably  tender  and  touching 
prayers  over  some  sobbing  penitent,  and  felt  themselves 
borne  by  it  nearer  to  the  cross  of  Christ  and  the  gate  of 
heaven,  than  the  studied  rhetoric  of  the  pulpit  or  the 
dignified  propriety  of  a  church  prayer-meeting  had  ever 
brought  them. 


Jerrys  Characteristics.  175 


CHAPTER   XVI. 
MR.  HATCH'S  "  RECOLLECTIONS." — Concluded. 

"  Grace  all  the  work  shall  crown, 

Through  everlasting  days; 
It  lays  in  heaven  the  topmost  stone, 
And  well  deserves  the  praise." 

IT  would  be  difficult,  if  not  altogether  impossible,  to  so 
analyze  Jerry's  character  or  define  the  sources  of  his  influ- 
ence and  success  as  to  create  out  of  them  an  available  model 
upon  which  other  regenerated  roughs  may  be  moulded 
into  future  Jerry  McAuleys.  His  downright  sincerity,  his 
earnestness  and  singleness  of  purpose,  his  indomitable 
pluck  and  perseverance,  and  his  devout  piety  are  indeed 
alike  worthy  and  susceptible  of  imitation  by  any  man, 
whatever  his  past  record  may  be,  who  yields  himself  up, 
as  Jerry  did,  to  the  love  and  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Those  peculiarities  and  distinctive  traits  which  went  to 
make  up  his  personality  cannot  be  portrayed  like  the  well- 
defined  lines  and  curves  of  a  mathematical  figure,  to  be 
copied  and  reproduced  at  will.  The  coming  transformed 
rough  or  criminal,  who  shall  set  out  to  become  by  imitation 
a  second  Jerry  McAuley  will  probably  prove  a  lamentable 
and  ludicrous  failure.  He  imitated  no  one  ;  he  Was  himself 
inimitable  ;  he  stands  alone,  a  unique  example  of  the  Divine 
selection  of  material,  which,  in  its  rough  state,  it  is  safe  to 
say,  ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred  religious  experts  would 
have  unhesitatingly  rejected ;  and  of  what  may  be  wrought 


(76  His  Originality. 

by  the  grace  of  God  and  the  love  of  Jesus  out  of  and 
through  the  sort  of  stuff  that  Jerry  was  made  of. 

It  is  alike  impracticable  to  formulate  his  methods,  as  a 
system  or  a  plan  of  Christian  work.  He  worked  in  his  own 
way,  in  the  only  way  in  which  it  was  possible  for  him  to 
work,  and  in  many  respects  as  he  alone  could  have  worked 
successfully.  He  could  not  be  pared  down,  or  rounded  off, 
or  adjusted  to  any  pattern  set  by  another,  or  fitted  to  any 
conception  that  well-meaning  friends  may  have  entertained 
as  to  what  he  ought  to  be  and  do.  He  was  Jerry  McAuley 
by  the  grace  of  God,  and  as  such  let  us  be  thankful  for  him. 

His  work,  and  that  of  the  missions  which  bear  his 
name  and  perpetuate  his  influence,  and  the  undeniable 
success  which  even  the  severest  critics  of  their  direct 
and  homely  way  of  attacking  sin  and  saving  sinners  have 
been  compelled  to  recognize,  have,  however,  given  a 
new  value  to  methods  and  instrumentalities  which  had 
previously  been  contemplated  by  many  conservative  and 
over-refined  Christians  with  grave  distrust,  and  in  some 
cases  even  with  undisguised  contempt ;  and  have  imparted 
a  new  impulse  to  their  use,  in  connection  with  missionary 
effort  for  the  salvation  of  the  lost  and  for  the  reclamation 
of  those  whom  the  more  refined  and  stately  ministrations  of 
the  pulpit  have  failed  to  reach. 

The  holding  of  nightly  meetings  throughout  the  year 
without  interruption  or  break,  where  men  and  women 
burdened  with  sin,  broken  down  and  shattered  by  de- 
bauchery and  vice,  homeless  and  hopeless,  hungry,  ragged 
and  defiled,  drunk  or  sober,  fresh  from  the  prison  or  the 
gutter,  are  welcomed,  are  made  to  feel  that  somebody  cares 
for  them  and  that  their  wretched  past  has  not  made  de- 
cency and  respectability  in  this  life  and  salvation  in  the 


New  Methods  of  Work.  177 

life  to  come  impossible  to  them,  and  are  taught  that 
Jesus  died  for  them  and  that  God  loves  them  ;  the  direct, 
unconventionial,  blunt  presentation  of  religious  truth,  in  lan- 
guage which  is  familiar  to  the  classes  to  whom  it  is  ad- 
dressed and  the  force  of  which  they  can  appreciate;  the 
personal  experiences  and  testimonies  of  those  who  have 
been  saved,  carrying  practical  conviction  and  hope  to  the 
hearts  of  others  who  are  what  the  saved  ones  once  were, 
and  persuading  them  that  there  is  salvation  for  them  also—- 
these are  among  the  more  prominent  characteristics  of 
Jerry's  work  which  have  been  so  signally  honored  and 
blessed  of  God  to  the  salvation  of  many,  and  which  have, 
through  it,  become  more  conspicuous  features  in  missionary 
effort  than  ever  before. 

This  is  especially  true  of  the  practical  preaching  of  the 
Gospel  of  salvation  through  the  personal  testimonies  of  the 
saved;  and  it  has  been  found  that,  just  as  the  personal 
witness  of  a  blind  man  whose  eyes  have  been  opened  is 
a  more  effective  advertisement  of  the  skill  of  the  physi- 
cian who  opened  them,  to  send  other  blind  men  to  him, 
than  a  whole  volume  of  essays  on  the  theory  of  blind- 
ness and  its  cure,  so  the  sincere  and  simple  declaration,  "  I 
was  a  drunkard,  a  gambler,  a  thief,  homeless,  ragged,  de- 
spised and  outcast,  and  Jesus  picked  me  up  and  saved  me, 
and  has  made  me  respectable  and  happy,  filled  my  soul 
with  peace,  and  opened  to  me  the  gates  of  Paradise,"  has 
infinitely  more  power  to  attract  the  faith  of  others  in  like 
wretchedness  and  despair  to  the  Jesus  who  has  done  all 
this,  than  a  whole  library  of  sermons  on  the  nature  of  sin 
and  the  theology  of  the  plan  of  salvation. 

Multitudes  of  Christians  have  felt  their  pride  of  culture 

humbled,  their  refinements  of  taste  in  respect  to  religious 
12 


1 78  Power  of  Testimonies. 

methods  rebuked,  and  their  sense  of  the  power  of  Divine- 
grace  and  of  the  superiority  of  infinite  wisdom  over  human 
judgment  in  the  selection  and  use  of  means,  lifted  up 
higher,  as  they  have  seen  in  Jerry's  meetings  how  God  has 
chosen  the  foolish  things  of  this  world  to  confound  the 
wise,  and  the  weak  things  to  confound  the  mighty,  and  the 
base  things  and  things  which  are  despised,  that  no  flesh 
should  glory  in  his  presence ;  and  have  learned  in  humilia- 
tion and  shame  for  their  past  fastidiousness,  that  it  ill  be- 
comes human  frailty  to  despise  or  criticise  or  hold  in  light 
esteem  that  which  God  has  honored  and  dignified. 

In  explanation  of  many  of  the  testimonies  which  are 
heard  in  these  Mission  meetings,  the  following  extracts  from 
the  report  of  an  address  delivered  by  the  writer  of  these 
notes,  at  an  anniversary  of  the  McAuley  Water  Street 
Mission  five  or  six  years  ago,  may  not  be  out  of  place. 

The  experience  and  observation  of  the  intervening  years, 
in  intimate  connection  with  work  of  this  kind,  has  in  no 
wise  changed  or  modified  the  views  then  expressed. 


"  Although  the  testimonies  given  in  these  meetings  are  well 
understood  by  those  who  are  familiar  with  them  and  with 
the  personal  histories  of  those  who  utter  them,  occasional 
visitors  from  an  entirely  different  condition  in  life,  and  ac- 
customed to  quite  another  phase  of  religious  experience, 
may  sometimes  misapprehend  them  and  question  the  genu- 
ineness of  the  spiritual  experiences  of  which  they  are  the 
expression. 

"  It  is  difficult  for  Christians  whose  position  and  circum- 
stances in  life  when  converted  were  those  of  respectability 
and  comfort  to  realize  all  that  religion — salvation  through  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ — means  to  many  of  these  people  whose  tes- 


> 

Salvation  Present  and  Practical.  i  79 

timonies  are  to  be  heard  there.  While  it  means  to  them  the 
same  cleansing  from  sin,  the  same  inward  peace,  the  same 
hope  of  heaven,  that  it  means  to  others;  it  means  to 
many  of  them,  in  addition  to  alf  this,  much  more  besides. 
To  many  of  them  it  means,  not  only  reconciliation  to  God, 
but  also  reconciliation  to  human  laws  and  to  human  society. 
To  some  of  them  it  means  no  more  fear  of  the  policeman's 
grip  or  the  detective's  stealthy  tread ;  no  more  dread  of  the 
prison  and  the  gallows ;  no  more  weeks  in  the  Tombs ;  no 
more  months  on  Blackwell's  Island ;  no  more  dreary  years 
at  Sing  Sing  or  Auburn.  To  them  it  means  an  honest  life ; 
the  confidence  and  trust  of  their  fellow-men  ;  liberty  to  walk 
upright  in  broad  day,  unhunted,  and  without  a  price  upon 
their  heads ;  and  the  sweetness  of  eating  in  fearless  security 
the  bread  of  honest  toil ! 

"  To  many  others  it  means  no  more  dreadful  carousals  in 
beastly  drunkenness ;  no  more  bruised  and  aching  heads; 
no  more  smashed  crockery  and  mutilated  furniture ;  a  wife 
broken-hearted  no  more;  and'  their  children  fleeing  from 
them  no  more  in  terror!  It  means  no  more  journeys  to  the 
pawn-shop ;  no  more  homeless  wanderings  in  the  streets  by 
day ;  no  more  sleepless  nights  in  station-houses,  or  in  dirty 
dens,  or  on  the  docks,  or  in  the  gutters ! 

"  To  these  men  and  women  salvation  means  decent  cloth- 
ing instead  of  rags,  cleanliness  instead  of  dirt  and  vermin. 
It  means  parents  reconciled,  home  restored,  wife  and  chil- 
dren happy  and  smiling.  It  means  food  and  raiment  and 
employment  and  friends  and  self-respect,  and  everything 
else  that  makes  human  life  comfortable  and  happy.  We 
need  not  wonder,  therefore,  that,  in  attempting  to  tell  what 
Jesus  has  done  for  them,  they  speak  of  these  things.  Good 
Christian  people,  coming  as  visitors  to  these  meetings,  and 


1 80  A  Story  Not  Soon  Told. 

hearing  these  testimonies  but  once,  or  only  at  long  inter- 
vals, are  sometimes  disturbed  with  the  fear  that  these  men 
and  women  are  not  soundly  converted.  Hearing  them,  in 
the  fulness  of  their  gratitude,  and  in  the  warmth  of  their 
love,  tell  of  the  homes,  the  friends,  the  food,  the  clothing, 
the  good  wages,  and  the  comforts  of  life  which  the  service 
of  God  has  brought  to  them,  the  stranger  may  sometimes 
say, 4  Why,  these  people  seem  to  value  salvation  only  for  the 
material  comforts  and  rewards  which  it  brings  to  them ! ' 

"  We  who  know  them,  and  hear  them  often,  know  better 
than  this.  When  they  speak  here,  they  are  limited  in  their 
testimonies  to  one  minute,  in  order  that  as  many  as  possi- 
ble may  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  at  each  meeting.  A 
man  cannot  tell  all  that  he  feels  and  knows  of  the  love  of 
God  and  of  the  blessings  of  salvation  in  one  minute.  One 
has  to  hear  them  ten,  twenty,  fifty  times,  before  all  that 
they  have  to  tell  of  the  goodness  of  God  and  the  happiness 
of  serving  their  new-found  Master  and  Redeemer  comes 
out.  I  have  heard  some  of  them  testify  a  hundred  times  ; 
and  each  time  have  found  that  not  half  the  story  of  their 
redemption  had  yet  been  told.  And  we  who  have  heard 
their  testimonies  most  frequently,  and  know  their  hearts 
and  their  lives  best,  have  found  that  those  who  have  the 
most  grateful  sense  of  these  present  blessings  and  material 
benefits,  which  the  love  and  service  of  Jesus  have  brought 
into  their  lives,  and  who  speak  first  and  often  of  these 
things,  have  also  the  strongest  faith  in  God,  the  sweetest 
experiences  of  inward  peace  and  spiritual  communion  with 
him,  and  the  brightest  and  most  stedfast  hope  of  eternal 
life. 

"These  testimonies  show  that  if  there  is  one  truth  of  the 
Gospel  more  clearly  illustrated  in  the  experiences  of  the 


//  Pays  in  This  Life.  1 8 1 

people  converted  in  this  mission  than  another,  it  is  that 
'  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all  things,  having  promise  of 
the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come.'  To  the 
poor,  wretched,  homeless  wrecks  of  body  and  soul,  that 
drift  into  the  meetings,  the  truth  is  preached  in  every  testi- 
mony :  '  It  pays  in  this  life  to  serve  Jesus.' 

"  It  is  of  but  little  use  to  preach  this  truth  to  the  well-to-do 
sinner,  surrounded  by  wealth,  friends,  and  all  the  comforts 
of  life.  He  thinks  that  he  already  has  the  '  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is.'  Salvation  means  to  him  self-sacrifice,  a 
surrender  of  some  of  the  riches,  pleasures,  and  self-indul- 
gences in  which  he  revels.  To  move  him  to  repentance  and 
godliness,  you  must  appeal  to  his  conscience,  and  his  duty 
to  his  Maker,  and  must  turn  the  current  of  his  thoughts  to 
'  that  life  which  is  to  come.'  But  to  many  of  the  outcasts 
who  wander  into  these  meetings  there  is  little  need  to 
preach  of  a  heaven  and  a  hell  hereafter  ;  for  when  they  come 
in  sorrow  and  penitence  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  surrender 
themselves  to  Him,  they  are  fleeing  from  a  present  hell  on 
earth ;  and  when  they  are  converted  a  heaven  begins  to 
them  right  here  and  now. 

"  Their  most  frequent  thoughts  and  expressions,  therefore, 
are  not  so  much  about  the  penalties  of  sin  and  the  rewards 
of  righteousness  in  the  life  to  come,  as  about  this  truth — 
which  has  been  revealed  to  them — that  '  godliness  is  profita- 
ble unto  all  things,  having  promise  of  the  life  tJiat  now  is* 
To  them  the  dividing  line  in  human  existence  is  not  so  much 
the  grave  separating  between  time  and  eternity,  as  it  is  the 
hour  in  which  they  were  lifted  up  out  of  a  visible  hell  on 
earth,  into  what  is  to  them  a  present  heaven,  and  began  to 
enjoy  the  '  promise  of  the  life  that  now  is.' 

"  Afterward,  when  they  have  come  to  realize  the  terrible 


1 82  Good  for  Both  Worlds. 

abyss  of  eternal  woe  from  which  the  blood  of  Jesus  has  re- 
deemed them,  and  their  hearts  begin  to  take  in  some  con- 
ception of  the  things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  them 
that  love  Him,  then  their  faith  lifts  itself  up  and  takes  hold 
on  eternal  realities,  and  they  learn  the  higher  strains  of  the, 
song  of  redemption.  But  they  never  cease  to  remember 
and  to  testify  that  it  is  Jesus  who,  in  saving  them  from  sin 
now,  has  saved  them  from  the  wretchedness  and  shame 
which  sin  had  brought  into  their  lives." 


The  preparation  of  the  foregoing  sketch  has  been  a  labor 
of  love.  Its  purpose,  however,  has  not  been  merely  to  en- 
circle the  head  of  Jerry  McAuley  with  a  glory,  after  the 
manner  of  the  old  masters  in  adorning  their  canvas  with 
saintly  figures;  nor  to  throw  a  halo  of  romantic  interest 
around  his  life  and  work  ;  but  rather  to  seek  to  bring  into 
stronger  light,  if  possible,  some  of  the  practical  lessons 
which  they  suggest. 

If  it  shall  reawaken  in  the  heart  of  any  lost  and  despair- 
ing sinner,  hopes  long  overlaid  with  sin  and  buried  out  of 
sight  and  consciousness  under  the  wreckage  of  a  reckless 
and  debauched  life ;  or  if  it  shall  give  an  encouraging  im- 
pulse to  any,  who,  having  been  born  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  out  of  the  rough  places  in  life  without  education  or 
previous  Christian  training  and  burdened  with  a  sense  of 
their  lack  of  those  requirements  which  go  to  make  up  a  con- 
ventional outfit  for  usefulness,  are  sorrowfully  asking  "  What 
can  I  do  for  Jesus  ?" ;  or  if  it  shall  serve  to  stimulate  any  of  the 
Christian  men  or  women  into  whose  hands  the  providence 
of  God  may  bring  it,  to  more  believing  and  earnest  work  for 
the  salvation  of  those  whom,  perhaps,  they  have  hitherto 
considered  beyond  hope — its  highest  aim  will  have  been 
fulfilled.  A.  S.  H. 


In  Water  Street  with  Jerry.  183 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

EVERY  EVENING  IN  WATER   STREET. 

Hark  !  how  the  blood  bought  hosts  above 
Conspire  to  chant  the  Saviour's  love, 
In  sweet  harmonious  strains  ! 

We'll  join  the  song  !  for  we  can  tell 
How  sovereign  grace  dissolved  the  spell, 

That  kept  us  bound  in  chains  ; 
And  from  that  dear  and  happy  day, 
How  oft  we've  been  constrained  to  say 

That  grace  triumphant  reigns  ! 

IN  the  year  1880  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Down  in  Water 
Street  Every  Evening"  was  prepared  by  Mr.  William  R. 
Bliss  of  this  city.  The  little  work  gives  a  graphic  portrait 
of  the  Water  Street  meetings  as  conducted  by  Jerry  that  is 
worthy  of  being  recorded  in  more  permanent  form.  That 
part  of  its  contents  has,  therefore,  with  slight  condensation, 
been  copied,  and  is  presented  in  the  two  following  chapters. 
It  was  the  custom  then,  as  it  is  now,  after  a  brief  service  of 
song,  to  offer  prayer  for  divine  blessing,  and  then  to  read 
from  God's  Word.  This  done,  Jerry  would  introduce  the 
testimonies  by  giving  his  own.  These  are  his  words  as  given 
in  the  pamphlet  mentioned  : 

"  The  meeting  is  now  open  for  testimonies.  Every  one 
who  wants  to  speak  for  the  Saviour  can  have  one  minute  to 
speak  in.  There  are  a  good  many  here  that  have  got  reason 
to  testify  what  the  Lord  has  done  for  them.  Now  don't  be 


184  Eleven  Years  Experience. 

afraid  to  do  it !  Stand  right  up,  young  converts !  Jesus 
said,  '  Whosoever  shall  confess  me  before  men,  him  will  I 
confess  before  my  Father  in  heaven.'  Stand  up  and  con- 
fess him,  and  it  will  give  you  a  good  boost  towards  heaven 
every  time  you  do  it.  Speak  short,  or  you'll  rob  somebody 
else  of  a  chance ;  long-winded  speeches  will  kill  a  meeting 
quicker  than  lightning !  If  any  of  you  feel  like  making  a 
long  speech,  just  cut  off  both  ends  and  give  us  only  the 
middle  of  it ! 

"  I'll  tell  you  my  experience,  and  I  won't  be  long  about 
it.  This  blessed  Jesus  saves  me.  He  saves  me  to-night 
from  being  a  drunkard,  and  a  gambler,  and  a  thief,  and  a 
fraud,  and  everything  else  that  you  can  put  in.  He  saved 
me  eleven  years  ago ;  and  he  saves  me  more  to-night  than 
he  did  then,  because  I've  grown  in  grace.  Bless  his  holy 
name  forever !  When  I  tell  you  that  Jesus  saves  me,  I 
mean  just  what  I  say  !  There's  no  sham  about  it !  I  don't 
tell  you  I  was  a  drunkard,  and  a  thief,  and  a  fraud,  to  glory 
in  it.  But  I  want  you  rough  men  to  understand  what  Jesus 
has  done  for  me.  Yes,  when  I  was  such  a  miserable  sinner 
that  I  hadn't  a  friend,  this  blessed  Jesus  picked  me  up  out 
of  the  mud,  and  saved  me  from  desiring  to  do  those  things 
which  I  had  been  doing.  And  he  saves  me  now.  Who 
wouldn't  love  the  name  of  Jesus  ?  The  meeting  is  open." 

Two  or  three  immediately  stand  up  to  speak. 

This  man,  thirty-two  years  old,  was  born  and  brought  up 
in  Water  Street ;  became  a  fearless  and  desperate  burglar ; 
and  came  into  the  chapel  for  the  first  time  about  two  years 
ago,  direct  from  the  New  Jersey  State  Prison.  He  says : 

41  If  there's  any  unfortunate  wretch  here  to-night,  down 
deep  in  crime  as  I  was,  I  want  him  to  know  what  Jesus  has 
done  for  me.  My  heart  sometimes  fills  right  up  when  I 


Liberty  from  God  and  Man.  185 

think  about  it.  I've  been  through  all  kinds  of  sin.  I  never 
was  intemperate.  But  I've  been  a  desperate  man,  and  I've 
committed  the  worst  crimes.  I've  been  twice  in  State  prison. 
Many  were  the  sad,  sad  years  I've  spent  alone  behind  the 
prison  bars !  I  thank  God  that  I  ever  came  into  this  Mis- 
sion !  I  came  here  looking  for  work.  I  didn't  want  religion : 
I  wanted  an  honest  job.  I  listened  to  the  testimonies,  and 
I  saw  that  the  men  were  in  earnest ;  and  when  Jerry  gave 
the  invitation  to  come  forward  for  prayers,  I  went.  I  knelt 
down  and  prayed.  I  couldn't  grasp  the  meaning  of  it.  But 
God  in  mercy  heard  me,  and  how  he  has  blessed  me  since ! 
When  I  first  came  in  here,  I  had  just  been  serving  a  term  of 
seven  years  and  seven  months  out  of  ten  years.  The  man 
that  went  in  with  me  got  twenty  years,  and  it  was  only  by 
the  mercy  of  God  that  I  didn't  get  it ! 

"  But  Jesus  has  forgiven  my  sins,  and  has  made  me  a  happy, 
peaceful,  and  contented  man,  which  I  never  was  before. 
Once  I  was  afraid  to  go  through  the  streets  by  daylight  lest 
the  first  policeman  I  met  should  tap  me  on  the  shoulder 
and  say, '  I  want  you  ! '  But  now  I  can  look  any  man  square 
in  the  face  and  feel  that  I  am  honest,  and  am  trying  to  do 
what  is  right  in  the  sight  of  God.  My  friends,  if  I  didn't 
know  there's  a  reality  in  this  religion  I'd  chuck  it  up !  I 
wouldn't  stand  here  talking  in  this  way ;  and  my  only  object 
in  telling  this  is  to  induce  some  man  who  has  been  as  bad 
as  I  was  to  come  to  Jesus  and  be  saved  from  his  sins." 

A  'longshoreman  says: 

"Jesus  saves  me  to-night  from  being  a  drunkard,  a  gam- 
bler, a  thief,  and  every  sinful  habit.  He  has  taken  the  desire 
for  sin  away  from  my  heart,  because  I  ask  him  to  do  it 
every  day.  A  little  more  than  six  years  ago  I  and  my  wife 
were  good-for-nothing  drunkards.  What  we  had  on  our 


/86  A  Home  Revolutionised. 

backs  when  we  first  came  into  this  Mission,  put  together, 
wouldn't  have  fetched  fifty  cents  in  a  junk-shop.  Blessed 
be  God,  it  isn't  so  now!  If  you  knew  what  my  home  was 
six  years  ago,  and  see  it  to-night,  you'd  say  I've  got  out  of 
hell  into  heaven !  My  old  friends  alongshore  told  me  they'd 
give  me  to  hold  on  until  I'd  got  a  dollar  to  spend.  But, 
blessed  be  God,  I  haven't  gone  back  yet !  What  is  there  to 
go  back  to  ?  Jesus  keeps  me,  and  he  has  sweetly  kept  me 
and  my  wife  for  six  years  and  a  little  more.  Every  promise 
in  the  Bible  has  been  fulfilled  in  my  case.  Although  I  used 
always  to  steal  sugar  regularly  from  vessels  I  was  discharg- 
ing, I  haven't  stolen  the  value  of  one  pin  from  any  man  for 
more  than  six  years,  and  haven't  desired  to  !  Blessed  be 
God  for  this  salvation  !  Christian  friends,  pray  for  me." 
This  man's  testimony  has  suggested  the  singing  of 

"  What  a  friend  we  have  in  Jesus, 
AH  our  sins  and  griefs  to  bear,"  etc. 

His  wife  follows  him,  saying: 

"  Six  years  ago  there  was  never  a  more  degraded  sinner 
than  I  was,  to  my  shame  be  it  said.  My  home  was  a  drunk- 
ard's hovel,  and  the  principal  thing  there  was  the  rum-bottle. 
I  kept  coming  to  this  Mission,  but  there  was  so  much  Ro- 
manism rooted  and  grounded  into  me  that  it  took  a  long  time 
for  me  to  be  willing  to  let  Jesus  in.  But  I  can  now  say, 
to  the  glory  of  God,  that  my  sins  are  all  forgiven,  and  the 
past  is  under  the  Blood.  In  place  of  the  rum-bottle  we 
have  the  Bible  in  our  home,  and  it  isn't  kept  for  ornament ; 
and  if  God  calls  us  at  any  time,  we  are  all  packed  up  and 
ready  to  go." 

The  young  man  now  speaking  is  a  steam-engineer,  ac- 
customed to  earn  fifty  dollars  a  month.  For  ten  years  he 


It  Made  a  Man  of  Him.  187 

spent  all  his  earnings  in  the  rum-shops  of  Water  Street  and 
its  neighborhood  : 

"  I  do  thank  God  that  I  ever  came  into  this  Mission  !  It 
has  made  a  man  of  me  !  I  knew  about  it  for  years  before  I 
came  in  ;  but  I  preferred  to  spend  my  evenings  in  those 
places  on  the  corners  over  there.  I  never  had  a  white  shirt, 
nor  an  overcoat,  or  any  comfort  or  happiness,  before  I  came 
here,  although  I  had  money  enough.  I  hadn't  written  my 
mother  for  nine  years,  but  when  I  began  to  come  here  I 
wrote  to  her  about  it.  I  earn  less  wages  now  than  I  did 
when  I  was  serving  the  devil ;  but  I  have  got  more,  because 
I  don't  use  it  to  support  the  rum-sellers,  and  I  don't  spend 
any  of  it  in  sin.  Jesus  saves  me  and  keeps  me  every  day ; 
and  oughtn't  I  to  be  thankful  for  it?" 

This  man  is  a  graduate  of  Dartmouth  College,  where,  he 
says,  he  acquired  his  intemperate  habits  because  he  was 
allowed  too  much  money  by  his  parents.  -He  has  practised 
law  in  Massachusetts.  Intemperance  brought  him  to  New 
York,  and  he  had  been  entirely  abandoned  by  all,  family  and 
friends,  except  his  wife,  when  by  chance  he  strolled  into  the 
Mission  from  a  low  grog-shop  in  Chatham  Square,  where  he 
was  existing : 

"  It  is  not  long  that  I  have  been  coming  to  these  meet- 
ings. When  I  think  of  what  I  am  now  and  what  I  was  last 
summer,  I  am  astonished.  I  had  nothing  then.  I  have 
everything  that  I  need  now.  When  my  last  cent  was  gone 
I  told  my  companion  if  he  would  go  and  sell  my  old  linen 
coat  we'd  take  a  drink  with  the  money.  When  he  brought 
me  the  money  I  thought  we  had  better  get  something  to 
eat,  as  we  had  not  had  anything  for  two  days.  So  we  went 
and  got  two  bowls  of  soup.  That  night  I  strayed  into  this 
Mission,  and  I  have  not  drunk  any  liquor  since  !  The  other 


1 88  A  Narrow  Escape. 

day  I  met  my  old  companion,  and  he  wanted  to  treat  me. 
4  What  will  you  take?  '  said  he.  Said  I,  '  I'll  take  a  box  of 
paper  collars,  as  I  need  some;  but  no  more  rum  for  me!' 
The  Lord  Jesus  has  saved  me,  and  I  desire  to  serve  him." 

Another  who  was  converted  here,  but  is  now  living  in  a 
Western  town,  has  come  in  to  express  his  gratitude: 

"  I  can  look  back  more  than  six  years  to  the  blessed  Sab- 
bath when  God  first  sent  me  into  this  Mission,  and  began 
his  work  in  my  heart.  I  began  my  drinking  career  on 
Broadway,  then  drifted  into  the  Bowery,  and  had  got  down 
into  Water  Street  when  the  Mission  arms  caught  me.  I  was 
thinking  about  it  to-day,  and  I  shuddered  as  I  looked  and 
saw  how  few  steps  more  it  was  to  the  river!  I  realize  how 
very  narrow  was  my  escape  from  destruction !  God  has 
been  good  to  me  in  many  ways,  and,  best  of  all,  he  has  kept 
me  in  the  straight  path." 
A  pale-faced  man,  recently  from  prison,  says: 
"I  was  a  criminal  from  boyhood.  My  first  sentence  to 
prison  was  when  I  was  nine  years  old.  I  have  served  four 
terms  in  prison.  When  I  happened  to  come  into  this  meet- 
ing one  night — and  I  was  received  with  open  arms — I  was 
tired  of  sin,  tired  of  eating  bread  and  water  behind  the  bars. 
The  testimony  I  heard,  together  with  the  words  of  Mr. 
McAuley,  had  a  reaction  on  my  mind.  I  knelt  down  and 
prayed,  and  my  sorrows  were  healed.  I  now  have  a  voca- 
tion, and  I  love  my  Saviour." 

A  young  man  who  works  in  a  printing-office  follows: 
"  I  am  only  twenty-two  years  old.  I  was  a  drunkard  four 
years:  in  Albany,  and  Boston,  and  this  city.  Being  a  com- 
positor by  trade,  I  got  work  wherever  I  went.  But  my 
wages  all  went  for  drink,  and  at  last  I  became  an  inmate  of 
a  low  den  in  Chatham  Square.  For  months  I  scarcely  left 


A  Strange  Bed  and  a  Hard  Pillow.  189 

it ;  when  I  got  stupidly  drunk  I  went  into  the  back  room 
and  slept  on  the  floor,  with  forty  or  fifty  others  like  myself. 
My  bed  was  a  couple  of  newspapers,  and  a  cheese-box  for 
a  pillow.  I  was  going  such  a  way  that  I'd  have  turned 
up  my  toes  in  a  month  or  two  longer,  if  I  hadn't  come  in 
here.  One  Sunday  evening  I  thought  I  would  go  down  here 
and  listen  to  the  singing.  When  the  invitation  was  given  to 
come  forward  for  prayers,  I  went.  And  I  went  a  good 
many  times  afterwards.  I  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  and  it 
seemed  hard  work  for  me  to  get  changed.  But  at  last 
Jesus  extended  his  hand,  and  led  me  out  of  darkness  into 
light.  He  keeps  me  daily  by  simply  trusting  him." 

This  large  man,  with  a  beaming  face,  is  the  captain  of  a 
three-masted  schooner : 

"  It's  very  hard  work  to  sit  still  here  !  There's  no  one  in 
this  room  who  has  more  reason  to  bless  God  than  I  have ; 
and  I  should  do  injustice  to  the  dear  Lord  if  I  should  not 
give  my  testimony.  I  feel  that  I  owe  all  that  I  am  to-night, 
in  answer  to  my  mother's  prayers.  At  fourteen  years  of  age 
I  went  to  sea,  as  my  father  had  done ;  and  I  never  shall  for- 
get that  my  mother  kneeled  down  with  me  before  I  went 
away,  and  she  prayed,  '  O  Lord,  keep  my  son  from  tempta- 
tion ;  he  goes  out  to  take  his  father's  place.'  The  dear 
Lord  followed  me  to  sea.  He  has  saved  me  from  sin,  and 
given  me  a  clean  heart ;  and  he  gives  me  the  evidence, 
every  day  I  live,  that  I  am  born  of  God ;  that  I  am  an  heir 
of  heaven  !  I  am  so  glad  to  recommend  this  same  Jesus  to 
every  sinner.  Yes;  blessed  be  his  name!  He  can  save  if  we 
will  only  let  him." 

The  man  now  rising  to  speak  is  a  steamship  officer : 

"  I  thank  God  for  ever  having  let  me  come  to  this  Mis- 
sion. When  I  was  a  youth  I  went  to  sea,  and  soon  learned 


1 90  A  Happy  Excha ; 

to  sin  ;  I  used  to  get  drunk,  and  had  a  sore  head  and  a  sore 
heart  all  the  time.  I  didn't  have  a  friend  in  the  world.  I 
never  lived  right  until  God  led  me  into  this  place.  When  I 
gave  Jesus  my  heart  he  saved  me  from  my  sins,  and  they 
are  no  more  to  me.  He  has  taken  everything  wicked  out  of 
my  desires.  Jesus  is  my  Saviour,  and  I  don't  do  the  things 
I  used  to  do,  because  he  saves  me.  I  know  it  is  good  to 
be  a  servant  of  Jesus.  I  know  it  is  hard  to  be  a  servant  of 
the  devil.  Since  I've  been  serving  God  I've  never  had  to 
look  for  a  ship.  I  ought  to  be  thankful,  indeed ;  and  I 
hope  you  will  pray  for  me.  I'm  far  from  what  I  ought  to 
be." 

"  I  need  thee  every  hour, 
Most  gracious  Lord,"  etc., 

is  now  sung. 

This  man  is  a  truckman  for  the  Bridgeport  steamers : 
"  My  testimony  to-night  is  that  Jesus  saves  me.  I  had  a 
good  home  once,  and  a  good  mother  who  prayed  for  me. 
But  I  slammed  the  door  in  her  face ;  and  for  nine  years  I 
gave  all  my  earnings  to  the  gin-mills,  and  had  to  go  a-bcg- 
ging  and  to  prison.  I  heard  about  this  Mission  one  night 
in  a  thieves'  den  in  the  Bowery.  I  wasn't  sober  when  I  first 
came  in  here.  The  clothes  I  had  on — some  belonged  to  my 
father  and  some  to  my  brother.  I  didn't  suppose  I  was 
worth  saving.  I  didn't  know  that  anybody  cared  for  me. 
I  heard  the  testimonies  of  men  who  had  been  drunkards  and 
thieves,  like  as  I  was.  I  thought  I'd  try  to  get  this  salva- 
tion ;  and  I  did.  I  went  out  of  here  that  night  a  sober  man. 
Some  ladies  at  the  door  shook  hands  with  me  and  asked  me 
to  come  again.  It  touched  my  heart.  I  hadn't  received 
any  such  kindness  since  I  left  my  mother.  For  nearly  three 
years  now  I've  had  the  evidence  in  my  heart  that  I  am 


Heard  His  Own  Life  Described.  191 

saved.  I  have  been  living  careless  lately ;  but  by  the  help 
of  God  I'll  live  so  no  more." 

This  young  man  came  here  from  Sing  Sing  prison.  There 
are  sometimes  fifteen  or  twenty  men  in  a  meeting  who,  like 
him,  have  been  "  behino^the  bars": 

"  I  am  one  of  those  Christ  came  to  save.  I  want  to  tell 
how  he  has  saved  me  from  my  sins.  When  I  first  heard 
the  testimony  of  these  men  here,  telling  how  they  were 
drunkards  and  thieves,  and  all  that,  I  wasn't  sober  myself. 
I  sat  off  there  by  the  door.  But  I  heard  what  the  men 
said,  and  I  said  to  myself,  '  That's  my  life  to  a  cent ! '  I 
was  arrested  in  the  street  right  opposite  here,  and  I  got 
five  years  in  Sing  Sing.  I  got  the  shower-baths,  and  the 
ball  and  chain,  there.  I  was  in  a  lot  of  fellows  that  tried  to 
escape  from  prison  on  a  raft.  We  got  caught.  One  of  'em 
was  shot.  If  I'd  been  shot  I  know  I'd  been  in  hell  to-night. 
When  he  was  a-dying  he  asked  me  to  pray  for  him.  I  didn't 
know  how  to  pray!  Never  prayed  in  my  life  till  I  came  into 
this  Mission  ;  and  when  I  was  invited  I  bounced  right  up  for 
prayers.  I  didn't  wait.  Jesus  heard  my  prayer,  and  I  feel 
he  has  saved  me.  I  know  it.  I  like  to  come  to  the  front 
and  tell  it  now,  because  there  are  some  fellows  coming  here 
that's  just  the  kind  I  was,  and  I  know  Jesus  can  save  'em 
from  their  sins  if  they  want  to  be  saved.  I  never  was  happy 
till  Jesus  saved  me." 

This  is  an  Erie  Canal  boatman  now  speaking: 

"  I  bless  God,  to-night,  that  I  have  got  an  experimental 
religion.  The  religion  of  Jesus  is  a  religion  that  I  can  talk 
about !  I  haven't  had  it  but  a  short  time,  but  it  fills  me 
with  joy  and  peace  every  day ;  and  God  being  my  helper,  I 
will  tell  of  His  saving  grace  as  long  as  I  live." 

Then  a  man  rises  and  says  in  a  quiet  tone; 


1 92  Swinging  His  Sledge  for  Jesus. 

"My  dear  friends:  I  want  to  say  that  when  I  first  came 
in  here,  about  four  years  ago,  I  was  a  poor  lost  drunkard, 
without  a  coat  to  my  back  or  shoes  to  my  feet.  I  know  I 
was  a  nuisance  everywhere.  I  wasn't  worth  ten  cents;  and 
I  was  ready  to  fight  any  man  that  f>ut  his  fist  in  my  face. 
But,  my  dear  friends,  it  isn't  so  now.  God  has  given  me 
and  my  wife  clean  hearts  and  clean  ways,  and  everything 
that  we  need,  and  has  given  me  a  humble  and  quiet  spirit ; 
and  he  has  made  us  civil.  If  a  man  now  strikes  me  on  one 
cheek  I  think  I  am  willing  to  turn  to  him  the  other  also,  if 
thereby  I  can  serve  God.  I  swing  my  sledge  every  day  at 
my  work  with  heavenly  thoughts,  and  sometimes  I  forget 
my  mate  on  the  other  side  of  the  anvil,  and  keep  striking 
as  if  it  was  one  more  blow  for  Jesus.  My  Christian  friends, 
pray  for  me  that  I  may  ever  be  humble  and  faithful." 

A  young  man,  who  has  spent  many  years  in  prison,  says, 
in  an  unpretending  manner: 

"  I  am  thankful  that  God  gives  me  a  disposition  to  tell 
what  he  has  done  for  me.  I  thank  him  for  keeping  me 
to-day  in  a  time  of  temptation.  I  thank  him  for  bringing 
me  in  here  to-night,  and  not  letting  me  roam  around  the 
streets  as  I  used  to  do,  committing  all  kinds  of  crimes.  I 
want  you  all  to  pray  for  me." 

Another  now  rises  and  says: 

"  I  am  glad  to  testify  that  Jesus  saves  me  from  my  sins. 
How  thankful  I  ought  to  be!  He  saves  me  from  gambling 
and  the  use  of  tobacco  and  rum,  and  from  everything  that  is 
wicked  and  sinful.  He  makes  me  a  clean  Christian." 

He  is  followed  by  a  captain  of  a  tug-boat,  saying: 

"When  I  came  in  here  a  few  months  ago,  the  testimonies 
pricked  me  to  the  heart,  and  I  didn't  have  any  rest  until  I 
went  to  Jesus.  Now  I  can  say,  '  For  me  to  live  is  Christ,  to 


Seamen  Saved.  193 

die  is  gain.'  I  seek  his  blessing  and  guidance  every  morn- 
ing before  I  start  my  boat,  and  every  night  after  I  have 
tied  her  up.  I  am  trusting  in  him  all  the  time." 

This  speaker  is  an  officer  of  a  sailing-ship : 

"  Friends,"  he  says,  "  I've  been  following  the  sea  all  my 
life.  When  I  wore  ship  and  began  to  sail  under  the  Lord's 
directions  my  shipmates  said,  'You  just  wait  and  see  how 
soon  you'll  get  fetched  up  with  a  round  turn.'  But,  thanks 
be  to  God,  I  haven't  been  fetched  up  yet !  Jesus  keeps  me. 
He  guides  me  with  his  counsel.  He  is  the  confidence  of 
the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  of  them  that  are  afar  off  upon 
the  sea." 

We  sing 

"  He  leadeth  me  !    O  blessed  thought !"  etc., 

when  a  sailor  rises  and  says  : 

"  I've  been  a  desperate  man,  but  now  I'm  a  sinner  saved 
by  grace.  I  came  along  here  and  I  heard  the  testimonies  in 
the  meeting.  I  reckoned  the  men  were  honest,  and  I  made 
up  my  mind  to  wear  ship  and  sail  in  the  Lord's  service. 
Ho !  shipmates,  there  is  no  service  like  that !  Bless  the 
Lord !  I've  squared  my  yards  by  the  lifts  and  braces,  and 
I'm  bound  to  glory  now !" 

Another  sailor  says : 

"  The  first  night  I  went  away  from  this  place  I  went 
aboard  my  ship  and  kneeled  down  in  my  cabin,  and  prayed 
the  Lord  to  save  me  from  my  sins.  And  when  he  saved  me 
I  felt  as  my  ship  might  feel  when  all  the  barnacles  have 
been  scraped  off  from  her :  I  felt  as  if  I  had  been  scraped 
off  clean  inside  and  outside." 

Then  an  old  woman,  with  an  Irish  accent,  says : 

"This  blessed  Jesus  saves   old  women   too!      I  was  a 
13 


194  Saves  Old  Women  Too. 

drunkon  old  thing,  and  told  lies,  and  lived  in  a  dirty  hole, 
and  had  nothing.  Thanksgiving  night  my  four  years  was 
up  since  I  first  came  in  here.  I  was  drunk  then,  but  I 
haven't  been  drunk  since,  and  never  will  be,  God  helping 
me!  The  Almighty  God  is  good  to  me  in  everything.  He 
sent  me  a  turkey  Thanksgiving  Day,  with  money  tied  to  the 
end  of  it,  and  I  had  turkey  for  seven  days.  When  I  came 
to  Jesus  I  hadn't  two  cents  in  my  pocket.  Now,  blessed  be 
God  !  I've  got  a  clean  home,  and  a  carpet  and  pictures,  and 
I  wouldn't  be  ashamed  to  ask  any  lady  to  come  in  there ; 
and  I've  got  a  clean  heart  inside  too!  But  I  have  to  watch 
and  pray.  Mr.  McAuley  told  me  never  to  go  to  my  bed 
without  praying  to  the  dear  Jesus  that  saves  us  all,  and  to 
pray  every  morning ;  and  I  do.  If  there's  anybody  here  that 
don't  love  Jesus,  they  can't  do  better  than  kneel  down  and 
pray  to  him.  Jesus  can  save  you,  and  he  can  take  care  of 
you,  too." 

A  German  woman,  who  lives  on  a  gravel-scow,  says : 
"  Jesus  saves  me,  too.  I  was  a  very  bad  woman  a  good 
many  years.  I  cursed,  I  sold  rum,  and  I  quarrelled  with 
everybody.  I  had  a  wicked  temper.  When  the  fire  wouldn't 
burn  in  my  stove,  I  kicked  it,  and  I  tore  up  my  Bible,  which 
I  brought  from  Germany,  to  kindle  the  fire !  I  was  good 
for  nothing  when  I  came  in  here.  But,  my  dear  friends, 
Jesus  has  taken  me  up  and  forgiven  my  sins  and  made  me 
happy.  I  wouldn't  go  back  on  Jesus ;  not  for  fifty  dollars 
a  week!  Jesus  gives  me  more,  because  He  gives  me  all  I 
need.  There's  nothing  good  for  me  to  have  that  the  Lord 
doesn't  give  it  to  me.  He  gives  me  my  daily  bread,  and 
what  do  we  need  more?  We  didn't  carry  nothing  into  the 
world  and  we  can't  carry  nothing  out.  Dne  morning  we 
had  no  bread,  and  my  husband  had  no  work.  I  went  out 


The  Basket  Filled.  195 

to  look  for  work.  I  ought  to  have  taken  a  pail  with  me, 
but  I  took  a  basket,  and  I  stood  on  the  corner  and  I  prayed, 
'  Jesus,  help  me ! '  Then  I  went  to  Sixth  Avenue,  and  a 
man  came  up  and  said,  '  My  good  woman,  do  you  want 
some  work?'  I  said,  'Yes,  sir.'  He  said,  '  What  have  you 
got  a  basket  for?'  I  said,  '  I  don't  know;  but  my  husband 
has  no  work  and  nothing  to  eat.'  He  said,  '  Can  you  scrub 
my  store  ?  '  I  said, '  Yes,  sir.'  When  I  got  through  he  filled 
up  my  basket  with  bread  and  potatoes,  and  he  put  on  top 
a  leg  of  mutton,  and  told  me  to  come  to-morrow!  Jesus 
takes  care  of  us.  He  gives  me  a  good  home,  and  he  makes 
me  and  my  husband  happy  all  the  time." 


196  More  Strains  of  Rejoicing. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WATER  STREET  MEETING — Concluded. 

"  He  loveth  me;  O  joy  divine  ! 
Celestial  light  doth  round  me  shine, 
And  though  unworthy  I  may  be, 
I  know  that  Jesus  loveth  me." 

THE  man  now  speaking  is  a  truckman : 

"  I  was  once  as  bad  a  man  as  there  was  in  this  ward. 
But  I  had  a  praying  mother,  and  God  heard  her  prayers  at 
last,  when  I  got  so  low  that  I  couldn't  help  myself.  I  had 
plenty  of  money  once,  but  I  spent  it  all  for  rum.  When  I 
first  came  into  this  Mission  I  was  without  a  dollar,  without 
a  friend,  and  without  a  home.  I  had  nothing  but  hard 
knocks  ;  but  I've  got  a  good  home  now,  and  everything  I 
need.  I  have  made  some  sad  falls  since  I  began  to  serve 
the  Lord,  but  I  trust  I  have  been  forgiven." 

A  young  man  says : 

"  I  thank  the  Lord  Jesus  that  he  saves  me  to-night  from 
being  in  a  rum-shop,  or  down  in  a  ditch  with  somebody 
beating  my  eyes  out.  He  gives  me  a  desire  to  be  with 
God's  people." 

Immediately  another  says,  with  tears  in  his  eyes : 

•'  When  I  first  came  in  here  I  wasn't  fit  to  be  seen.  I  was 
a  perfect  wreck.  Nobody  would  have  anything  to  do  with 
me — not  even  my  family.  I  was  such  an  outcast.  But 
Jesus  has  saved  me,  and  kept  me  now  nearly  two  years. 


He  Read  the  Testimonies.  197 

What  a  Saviour  that  is  who  takes  you  up  after  everybody 
else  has  thrown  you  down!  I'm  so  thankful  to  him!  I 
wonder  at  myself  when  I  think  of  the  change  the  blessed 
Jesus  has  made  in  me  and  my  home.  He  has  given  me  a 
home  that's  a  perfect  heaven  on  earth !" 
Then  another  young  man  says: 

"I  never  shall  forget  the  night  of  October  18,  1879,  when 
the  Lord  Jesus  gave  me  a  new  heart  in  this  room.  He  has 
suppressed  my  appetite  for  intoxicating  drinks.  He  helps 
me  to  resist  temptation,  and  he  makes  my  life  all  sunshine." 
A  man,  -who  speaks  with  difficulty,  rises  and  says: 
"  I  was  brought  up  with  the  roughest  men ;  there  was  a 
gang  of  twelve  of  us ;  three  of  'em  have  been  hung.  I  lived 
right  round  here  ;  knew  all  about  sin  ;  never  knew  anything 
about  God ;  didn't  care.  Got  up  and  went  to  bed  every 
day  just  the  same.  Sometimes  was  cruising  round  all  night. 
I  had  a  little  boy  that  died.  I  loved  my  boy;  never  loved 
anything  else  so  much.  I  felt  bad  when  he  died ;  sat  look- 
ing at  him  in  the  coffin,  and  thought  about  death.  Then 
somebody  came  along  and  gave  me  a  little  book  what  told 
about  this  Mission.  I  read  two  pages  of  testimonies;  I  be- 
gan to  think  about  God.  I  came  here  to  get  that  same  re- 
ligion. I've  been  coming  ever  since.  I  was  in  the  house 
that  stoo.d  here  in  '49 — a  dance-house.  I  was  a  boy  thirteen 
years  old  then.  Thank  God,  I  have  a  Saviour  now  for 
twenty-one  months.  I'm  sending  my  children  to  school  to 
learn  what  their  father  didn't  know.  I'm  fetching  up  my 
children  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord." 

A  man  rises  and  announces  himself  as  a  stranger: 
"  I  never  was  in  here  before,  but  going  by  the  door  I 
heard  the  singing,  and  thought  I'd  come  in.     I  believe  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  working  in  me,  and  gives  me  courage  to  stand 


1 98  A  Journalist  Saved. 

up.  I  had  a  good,  praying  mother.  I  ran  away  from  her 
nineteen  years  ago,  when  I  was  seventeen  years  old,  and  I 
haven't  seen  her  since.  I've  been  a  drinker,  and  a  wanderer 
all  about  the  world.  These  testimonies  touch  my  heart.  I 
feel  a  desire  to  live  a  better  life.  I  want  to  ask  you  to  pray 
for  me  that  I  may  be  saved." 

Prayers  are  offered  on  this  request ;  and  then  we  sing — 

"  Come,  ye  sinners,  poor  and  needy, 

Weak  and  wounded,  sick  and  sore; 
Jesus  ready  stands  to  save  you, 
Full  of  pity,  love,  and  power; 
He  is  able,  He  is  willing;  doubt  no  more." 

This  young  man  has  been  well  educated  : 

"  I  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  poor,  until  I  became  a 
drunkard.  I  have  been  a  journalist ;  for  several  years  I  was 
proof-reader  in  the  Government  Printing  Office  at  Washing- 
ton. I  lost  my  position  through  the  use  of  alcoholic  drinks, 
and  when  I  first  came  into  this  room — well,  a  scarecrow, 
with  any  respect  for  his  calling,  would  have  blushed  at  me ; 
would  have  left  his  place  in  the  corn-field  and  walked  out 
when  he  saw  me  coming!  I  had  been  on  a  spree  for  seven 
weeks;  was  in  rags,  houseless,  homeless,  and  friendless.  I 
was  impressed  with  the  sincerity  and  earnestness  of  the 
testimonies  I  heard  here.  I  found  sympathizing  friends 
here.  To-night  I  rejoice  in  a  Saviour,  and  have  in  my  heart 
the  evidence  of  sins  forgiven.  I  am  now  eight  weeks  old  in 
the  Christian  life,  and  I  pray  that  I  may  be  faithful  to  the 
end." 

This  speaker  is  a  companion  of  the  last.  They  came  to 
the  Mission  together,  from  a  rum-shop  in  Chatham  Square, 
where  they  had  spent  most  of  their  time ;  ten  of  their  com- 


A  Little  Girl's  Prayers. 

panions  in  that  place  have  followed  them  here,  one  after  the 
other,  and  all  are  living  the  new  life. 

"  It  is  now  nearly  eight  weeks  since  I  gave  my  heart  to 
God  ;  and  when  I  remember  all  his  loving-kindness  to  me, 
my  heart  is  full.  I  was  a  miserable  drunkard,  cast  off  by 
my  family,  and  had  no  object  in  life  except  to  get  money  to 
spend  for  liquor.  I  came  here  from  curiosity  one  evening, 
and,  being  vividly  impressed  by  the  testimonies,  I  went  for- 
ward when  the  invitation  was  given,  and  on  my  knees  asked 
God  to  forgive  me  for  the  past.  He  mercifully  heard  my 
prayer.  He  has  taken  the  desire  of  strong  drink  away  from 
me,  and  given  me  assurance  that  I  am  one  of  his  children. 
Jesus  is  very  precious  to  me  every  day.  I  ask  to  be  remem- 
bered in  your  prayers." 

This  speaker  is  another  convert  from  the  same  place : 

"  I  shall  never  forget  the  night  when  I  first  entered  that 
door — all  broken  up,  good  for  nothing,  without  hope  and 
without  friends.  I  had  been  serving  the  devil  for  forty-two 
years.  I  graduated  number  one  in  his  school.  What  did 
he  do  for  me  ?  He  left  me  without  five  cents  in  my  pocket ! 
I  see  some  of  my  old  companions  standing  near  the  door 
there  now.  You  needn't  drop  your  heads  down  ;  you 
needn't  feel  ashamed  to  be  here !  It  was  here  I  first  found 
hope  and  encouragement. 

44  If  you  will  give  me  an  extra  minute,  I  would  like  to  tell 
a  short  story  connected  with  my  new  life  : 

44  About  twelve  months  ago  a  motherless  girl,  only  four- 
teen years  of  age,  whose  father  was  a  drunken  outcast  on 
the  streets  of  New  York,  became  a  Christian.  Soon  after, 
she  called  on  a  Christian  lady,  and  said,  4 1  have  read  in  the 
Bible  that  where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  Christ's 
name,  there  he  is  also.  I  want  to  ask  the  privilege  to  have 


2OO  A  Family  Made  Happy. 

a  prayer-meeting  in  your  house  every  morning  before  I  go 
to  school,  to  pray  for  my  father ;  and  as  God  may  not  know 
whose  father  we  are  praying  for,  let  us  repeat  his  name  in 
every  prayer.'  For  months  they  prayed,  but  God  did  not 
answer.  At  last,  on  the  night  of  the  28th  of  September, 
1879,  that  father  wandered  into  this  Mission,  and  knelt  weep- 
ing in  penitence,  asking  God  for  Christ's  sake  to  pardon  his 
sins.  That  child  was  my  daughter,  and  to-night  I  thank 
God  that  I  have  found  the  way  of  salvation." 

This  man  is  a  marble-polisher : 

"  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  tell  what  Jesus  has  done  for 
me.  It's  nigh  three-and-twenty  months  since  I  first  came 
into  this  Mission.  I  wasn't  sober  then.  I  had  just  stolen 
the  last  penny  that  my  wife  had  in  the  house.  When  I 
came  in  that  door,  I  thought  I  was  coming  into  a  sing-song 
place.  My  oldest  girl,  eleven  years  old,  never  slept  on  a 
bed  until  after  I  came  here.  The  children  laid  down  on  a 
bundle  of  rags  in  the  corner  and  got  up  ready-dressed  in  the 
morning,  because  they  slept  in  their  clothes.  You  ought  to 
see  my  wife  and  children  now,  if  you  want  to  know  what  a 
change  the  religion  of  Jesus  has  made  in  my  home.  To- 
night Jesus  saves  me  from  being  a  drunkard,  a  gambler,  and 
a  thief.  I  thank  God  that  I  am  now  what  he  intended  me 
to  be — an  honest  laboring  man.  I  can  go  through  the 
streets  to-night  a  free  man  in  Christ  Jesus." 

A  young  man  who  speaks  very  earnestly,  says: 

"  When  I  first  came  in  here  I  was  almost  dragged  up  to  the 
front ;  but  I'm  glad  to  come  to  the  front  now.  I'm  so  glad 
this  religion  is  free  to  all.  I'm  so  glad  it's  as  good  for  the 
drunkard  as  for  the  moral  man.  When  God  called  Noah  to 
make  the  ark,  he  done  it  just  as  much  for  the  mosquito  as 
for  the  elephant.  When  my  mother  died  I  was  drunk.  I 


Husband  and  Wife  Testify.  2OI 

went  to  look  at  her  dead  body.  I  kissed  her  cold  lips,  but 
I  couldn't  shed  a  tear.  But  when  Jesus  showed  me  my  heart 
I  could  cry.  I  was  in  prison  Thanksgiving  Day  a  year  ago. 
But  now  Jesus  saves  me,  and  feeds  and  takes  good  care  of 
me.  Pray  for  me." 

A  young  man  says,  with  emotion : 

"I  shall  never  forget  Thanksgiving  night,  1879,  when  I 
first  came  in  here.  I  was  a  drunkard.  If  I  ever  had  a  good 
thought  I  took  a  drink  to  wash  it  out.  I  found  friends  and 
the  Saviour  here.  Now  I'm  drinking  from  heaven,  and 
don't  thirst  any  more." 

Another  rises  and  says  : 

"  I  can  testify  to-night  for  Jesus,  that  his  yoke  is  easy 
and  his  burden  is  light." 

Another  man  says  : 

"When  I  came  into  this  Mission,  two  years  and  eight 
months  ago,  I  was  a  poor  lost  drunkard.  I  hadn't  hardly 
any  shoes  on  my  feet.  Now  I'm  not  in  want  of  shoes  or 
anything  else.  I  can't  thank  the  dear  Jesus  enough  for 
what  he  has  done  for  me.  He  gives  me  peace  and  joy  in 
my  heart  all  the  time." 

This  man  is  employed  in  Jersey  City: 

"  My  dear  friends,  I  once  led  a  wild  and  reckless  life.  I 
came  into  this  Mission  three  years  ago  and  gave  my  heart 
to  my  Saviour.  I  erected  a  family  altar  in  our  home.  It  is 
a  regular  little  paradise  now.  We  always  used  to  have  a 
fight  and  tumble  down  before  we  went  to  bed.  Now"  we 
always  have  prayers." 

His  wife  rises  and  says : 

"  I  thank  God  for  the  patience  he  had  with  me  in  my 
wicked  life,  and  for  saving  me  now.  I  praise  his  holy  name 
to-night,  and  I  pray  that  he  will  always  keep  me  humble." 


202  A  Poor  Thief  Saved. 

A  young  man  says : 

"  I  thank  God  when  I  think  what  I  am  and  what  I  was 
eleven  months  ago.  After  trying  repeatedly  to  save  myself, 
I  gave  my  heart  to  God,  and  he  has  made  a  new  man  of  me. 
When  I  started  I  found  the  road  kind  of  hard  on  account  of 
being  brought  up  a  Catholic.  But  I  learned  to  take  every- 
thing to  Jesus,  and  found  him  always  ready  to  hear  my 
prayer.  I  once  had  a  strong  appetite  for  drink,  and  I  got  so 
I  couldn't  earn  enough  to  satisfy  it,  and  I  became  dishonest 
and  had  to  serve  a  couple  of  terms  in  prison.  But  I  thank 
God  I  am  a  free  man  now  in  Christ  Jesus." 

This  man,  about  fifty-four  years  old,  has  spent  more  than 
half  his  life  in  eleven  different  English  and  American  prisons. 
He  says  : 

"This  blessed  Jesus  saves  me  from  being  a  thief.  My 
parents  were  thieves.  When  I  was  eight  years  old  I  was  in 
the  same  prison  with  my  mother  and  aunt.  I  was  trans- 
ported to  Van  Diemen's  Land  for  seven  years,  and  I've  got 
on  my  back  the  marks  of  the  floggings  I  received  there,  nigh 
forty  years  ago,  for  trying  to  run  away.  I  kept  on  stealing, 
and  was  sent  to  Australia  for  ten  years ;  and  when  I  got  out 
I  was  stealing  again,  and  they  sent  me  to  Gibraltar  for  five 
years.  I  was  three  years  in  a  solitary  cell,  and  never  came 
out !  God  gave  me  health  and  strength,  and  in  all  the  times 
I  was  coming  out  of  prison  I  tried  not  to  steal  any  more,  but 
I  had  stealing  on  the  brain.  When  I  came  into  this  Mission, 
on  the  1 8th  day  of  March,  1878,  I  was  just  down  from  Sing 
Sing,  where  I  had  been  doing  four  years.  But  God  has 
taken  the  desire  for  stealing  out  of  my  heart  and  put  a 
better  desire  there;  and  I  haven't  had  a  thought  to  steal 
since.  I  am  trying  to  serve  God  now.  I  ask  an  interest  in 
all  your  prayers." 


Jerry  Extends  the  Invitation.  203 

This  man  is  a  porter  in  a  warehouse : 

"  There  is,  therefore,  no  condemnation  to  them  who  are 
in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the  flesh,  but  after  the 
Spirit ;  and  I  am  glad  to-night  to  testify  that  there  is  no 
condemnation  for  me !  Jesus  Christ  is  a  perfect  Saviour. 
He  saves  me  completely.  I  feel  the  truth  of  that  in  my 
heart  every  day,  and  we  can  all  have  the  witness  of  the 
Spirit  in  our  hearts  at  any  time  if  we  only  let  Jesus  give  it 
to  us.  I  thank  God  that  I  am  not  knocking  around  this 
ward  to-night,  as  I  was  three  years  ago,  beating  some  fellow- 
man  and  spending  my  evenings  in  lager-beer  saloons,  drink- 
ing and  cursing,  and  taking  God's  name  in  vain.  Oh,  blessed 
be  God  for  this  salvation  which  is  free  to  all !" 

This  man,  a  Swede,  has  been  connected  with  the  Mission's 
work  for  several  years.  He  says : 

"  My  youth  was  sp£nt  in  smuggling.  At  the  age  of  four- 
teen I  lost  a  beloved  brother  in  that  nefarious  business, 
which  changed  my  way  of  life  and  sent  me  to  sea  from  Lon- 
don. I  was  convicted  of  sin  while  on  board  the  ship  Black 
Adder,  in  Shanghai  River,  after  I  had  challenged  a  man  to 
fight.  God's  Holy  Spirit  touched  me,  and  I  resolved  to  lead 
a  better  life.  After  three  months  the  Lord  sweetly  forgave 
me  while  I  was  working  ballast  in  the  ship's  hold  at  Hong 
Kong,  and  to-night  he  saves  me." 

The  testimonies  are  ended  by  the  singing  of  a  hymn,  after 
which  Jerry  again  speaks.  He  gives  an  invitation  to  all  per- 
sons who  are  tired  of  sin  and  want  to  live  a  better  life,  and 
to  all  backsliders,  to  stand  up  and  come  forward  towards  the 
platform  for  prayers : 

"  We're  going  to  have  prayers  now.  Don't  you  want  to 
be  saved  to-night?  Who'll  stand  up  for  prayers?  There's 
one ;  there's  two ;  three ;  there's  another !  Don't  be  afraid 


204  He  Describes  His  Former  Self. 

to  stand  up.  It  don't  make  any  difference  what  kind  of 
clothes  you've  got  on.  Satan  is  telling  some  of  you  not  to 
do  it.  He  holds  you  back.  I  tell  you  Satan  is  no  friend  of 
yours.  He  goes  round  putting  up  all  sorts  of  jobs  on  sin- 
ners ;  and  he  makes  it  pretty  hot  sometimes.  You  can't  get 
the  best  of  him !  You've  got  to  call  upon  the  Lord  for  as- 
sistance if  you  want  to  get  rid  of  your  bad  habits,  and  you've 
got  to  keep  asking  for  it  till  he  gives  it.  He  won't  be  long 
about  it.  'Ask and  you  shall  receive,'  is  what  he  says.  We 
need  his  help,  every  soul  of  us,  great  and  small.  When  I 
see  people  who  think  themselves  smart  and  cunning,  dab- 
bling in  sin  and  forgetting  God,  I  wonder  they  ain't  suddenly 
snapped  off,  squelched  just  where  they  are  !  They  all  need 
help.  Put  'em  all  in  a  bag — the  rich  sinners  and  the  poor 
sinners— and  shake  'em  up,  do  you  think  there'd  be  any  dif- 
ference in  'em  when  they  came  out  ? 

"You  hear  some  people  saying  the  Bible  is  a  sham,  and 
religion  is  all  a  hoax.  Well,  it  may  be  to  them,  but  it's 
God's  power  to  me.  Yes !  Look  at  me,  friends !  Once  I 
was  a  loafer  and  a  rough.  Never  knew  what  it  was  to  be 
contented  and  happy.  Head  on  me  like  a  mop ;  big  scar 
across  my  nose  all  the  time !  I  had  an  old  red  shirt,  and  a 
hat  that  looked  as  if  it  had  been  hauled  up  out  of  a  tar-pot ! 
If  I  had  a  coat,  it  was  one  of  the  kind  with  the  cuffs  up  here 
to  the  elbows !  split  open  in  the  back !  Latest  style !  D'ye 
see?  You  couldn't  find  any  drunken  rowdy  on  the  corner 
worse-looking  than  I  was.  I  cursed  God !  I  held  up  my 
hands  and  cursed  him  for  giving  me  existence.  Why  had 
he  put  me  in  a  hell  on  earth  ?  Why  had  he  made  me  a  thief 
and  a  drunkard,  while  he  gave  other  people  wealth  and 
pleasure?  And  then  I  suddenly  thought  that  he  had  done 
none  of  those  things.  It  was  I  that  brought  myself  to  what 


They  Call  Me  Mr.  McAuley.  205 

I  was !  Yes,  I  did  it  myself !  I  made  myself  a  drunkard 
and  a  thief,  and  then  went  and  accused  God  of  it !  Oh,  God 
is  good,  my  friends !  He  is  wise.  He  is  merciful.  If  you 
want  common-sense — and  who  don't? — ask  him  for  it ! 

"  Some  people  say, '  Ah,  I'm  too  bad  ;  God  wouldn't  give 
me  a  show.'  That's  all  a  mistake !  He  can  save  the  vilest 
sinner !  God  will  take  what  the  devil  would  almost  refuse  ! 
The  very  worst  people  are  welcome  to  him.  Didn't  he  save 
the  thief  on  the  cross  ?  I  knew  a  man  who  came  here  into 
this  place  to  lick  another  for  saying  '  Jesus  saves  me.'  Well, 
Jesus  saved  that  very  man  himself.  He  came  looking  for  a 
fight  here,  but  the  fight  was  all  knocked  out  of  him  !  God 
did  it.  He  went  away  like  a  cur  trembling  in  a  sack,  and  he 
became  a  good  Christian  man,  and  he's  a  Christian  now. 
That's  the  way  it  is.  Jesus  is  willing  to  save  every  one  who 
asks  him  honestly  to  do  it. 

"  My  friends,  I  want  to  tell  you  that  it  pays  to  serve 
Jesus.  He's  a  good  friend.  I  used  to  hang  round  that  rum- 
shop  on  the  corner  ;  and  they  were  glad  enough  to  have  me 
there  as  long  as  my  money  lasted.  But  when  that  was  gone 
— '  Jerry !  take  a  walk  !  Take  a  walk  around  the  block  and 
cool  off ! '  I  felt  the  insult  down  in  my  heart.  It  stung  me. 
But  I  couldn't  help  it ;  I  was  such  a  slave  to  my  appetite. 
I  hadn't  a  friend  in  the  world.  But  I  can  tell  you  it's  not  so 
now !  I  have  had  friends  and  everything  I  need  since  I  be- 
gan to  love  and  serve  Jesus.  Just  look  at  me !  Do  I  look 
like  a  fraud  now  ?  I'm  a  new  creature,  inside  and  out ! 
I'm  honest,  I'm  clean,  and  respected,  and  happy!  Why, 
those  rich  rum-sellers  over  there  respect  me  now.  They  call 
me  Mister  McAuley !  '  Good-morning,  Mr.  McAuley ! ' 
They  are  very  polite!  D'ye  see?  I  can  go  into  a  bank 
now,  and  the  president  will  ask  me  into  his  private  office, 


206  A  Free  Salvation. 

while  the  big  guns  have  to  stand  outside  I  '  Sit  down,  sir ; 
what  can  I  do  for  you?1  And  then  he'll  take  me  round  and 
introduce  me  to  the  cashier!  Ha!  twelve  years  ago  if  he'd 
seen  me  coming  into  his  bank  he'd  set  the  dogs  on  me,  or 
send  fora  policeman  to  run  me  out !  'Fraid  I'd  steal  all  the 
money !  Can't  you  see  what  the  religion  of  Jesus  has  done 
for  me?  I  tell  you,  the  religion  of  Jesus  makes  a  wonderful 
change  in  a  man.  I've  got  good  friends,  and  a  good  home, 
and  a  good  wife.  And  I've  got  money  in  my  pocket,  besides 
a  clean  heart  full  of  joy  and  peace  !  The  blessed  Jesus  has 
done  it  all.  Do  you  want  to  know  how  to  get  those  things? 
The  Bible  says  how — '  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  its 
righteousness,  and  all  those  things  shall  be  added  unto  you.' 

"  There  was  a  time  when  I'd  cut  a  man's  throat  for  a  five- 
dollar  bill,  and  kick  him  overboard !  Do  you  suppose  I'd  do 
it  now?  Eh?  Why  not?  'Cause  I've  got  the  grace  of 
God  in  my  heart !  Jesus  saves  me,  and  he  can  save  any 
man.  There's  not  a  poor  homeless  fellow  here  to-night  that 
isn't  welcome  to  salvation.  Jesus  says,  '  Him  that  cometh 
unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out.'  And  the  Bible  says, 
'He  tasted  death  for  every  man.'  Yes!  Jesus  died  for 
ever)'  poor  fellow  that  hasn't  got  any  home  or  friends  to- 
night !  Won't  you  come  to  him  and  let  him  save  you  ? 
Won't  you  come  now  ?" 

After  this  invitation  some  of  the  converts  canvass  the  as- 
sembly and  encourage  everyone  to  come  forward  for  prayers 
who  is  inclined  to  do  so,  while  all  stand  up  and  unite  in 
singing  a  penitential  hymn : 

"  Just  as  I  am — without  one  plsa, 
But  that  Thy  blood  was  shed  for  me, 
And  that  Thou  bidd'st  me  come  to  Thee— 
O  Lamb  of  God,  I  come." 


Some  Original  Prayers.  207 

\ 

All  kneel  down  while  one  or  two  prayers  are  offered. 
Then  each  of  the  new-comers  is  asked  to  pray  for  himself. 
On  such  occasions  fifteen  or  twenty  poor  miserable  men  may 
sometimes  be  seen  on  their  knees — a  position  in  which  most 
of  them  were  never  seen  before. 

To  the  suggestion  to  pray  for  themselves  some  of  them 
reply,  "  I  can't !"  "  I  don't  know  how  !"  "  I  never  prayed  in 
my  life  !"  "  I  can't  pray  in  English  !"  But  when  told  that 
Jesus  understands  all  languages,  and  that  prayer  is  only  ask- 
ing him  sincerely  for  what  they  most  want,  and  that  if  the 
heart  is  right  and  honest  the  words  are  of  little  importance, 
because  he  looks  at  the  heart  and  not  at  the  lips,  they  ex- 
claim, sometimes  sobbing,  "  O  God,  save  me !"  "  O  God, 
have  mercy  upon  me,  a  sinner !"  "  O  God,  take  away  my  ap- 
petite for  rum  !"  "O  Jesus,  I  have  been  a  very  bad  man.  I 
want  to  do  right;  help  me  !"  "  O  Lord,  scratch  out  my  sins, 
and  keep  them  scratched  out !"  "  Make  my  bed  in  heaven, 
O  Lord  !"  "  O  Lord,  forgive  the  past  of  my  life  ;  and  bless 
my  aged  mother  to-night,  who  don't  know  where  I  am !" 

Others,  not  knowing  what  to  say,  have  repeated  something 
which  was  taught  them  in  childhood  by  religious  parents. 
Evidences  of  early  religious  instruction  are  often  revealed 
by  the  suppliants  on  these  occasions — even  by  men  who 
have  become  gray-haired  in  sin.  Among  the  wretched  men 
who  for  the  first  time  prayed  for  themselves,  was  one  who 
repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer,  another  repeated  a  part  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  and  another  the  infant's  prayer,  "  Now  I 
lay  me  down  to  sleep,"  etc. 

These  words — reminiscences  of  a  time,  long  ago,  when  a 
loving  mother  watched  over  him  and  prayed  for  him — may 
be  supposed  to  represent  what  the  man  in  his  penitence 
wanted  to  say,  but  did  not  know  how. 


208  The  Work  Goes  On. 

The  result  of  these  meetings  is  thus  constantly  illustrat- 
ing the  truth  that  every  man  is  a  sinner,  and  that  Jesus  is 
the  only  Saviour,  and  that  he  is  able  and  willing  to  save 
immediately  the  vilest  wretch  who  comes,  like  the  leper, 
"  beseeching  him,  and  kneeling  down  to  him,  and  saying 
unto  him,  If  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean" 
(Mark  i.  40). 

It  is  gratifying  to  be  able  to  record  the  fact  that  the  Water 
Street  meeting  is  still  carried  on.  Souls  are  saved  there  con- 
stantly. It  is  one  of  many  flourishing  memorials  of  Jerry's 
redemption  and  consecration  to  Christ.  It  is  no  doubt  true, 

"  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them  ; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." 

But  this  is  not  always  the  case.  Through  God's  mercy  it 
is  not  so  in  the  case  of  Jerry  McAuley.  There  are  very 
many  souls,  some  in  glory  and  others  yet  upon  earth,  who 
were  led  to  Christ  through  his  instrumentality.  And  this  is 
not  all,  .for,  besides  this,  it  is  a  blessed  fact  that  the  means 
and  forces  which  he  was  permitted  to  put  in  operation  for 
the  salvation  of  lost  men  and  women,  remain  and  are  still 
richly  owned  and  blessed  of  God  to  that 


The  Cremorne  Mission.  209 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

JERRY   McAULEY'S  CREMORNE  MISSION. 

"We  sing  the  love  that  sought  us. 
We  praise  ihe  blood  that  bought  us, 
We  bless  the  grace  that  brought  us 
Back  to  the  fold  of  God." 

IN  preceding  pages,  some  account  has  been  given  of  the 
change  made  by  Jerry  in  his  field  of  operations.  Succeed- 
ing events  have  justified  the  step  he  took,  although  some 
of  his  best  friends  and  most  active  coworkers  did  not 
advise  it  at  the  time,  and  indeed  expressed  themselves  as 
doubting  the  wisdom  of  the  change.  They  feared,  no  doubt, 
that  the  Water  Street  Mission  would  suffer,  and  possibly 
become  extinct.  But  it  was  God's  work,  and  God  has  taken 
care  of  it.  Jerry  was  undoubtedly  led  of  God  to  commence 
operations  at  No.  104  West  Thirty-second  Street,  the 
location  of  the  Cremorne  Mission.  Close  to  a  crowded 
thoroughfare,  and  in  a  locality  where  sin  openly  abounds, 
such  a  beacon  of  warning  is  eminently  in  its  place.  From 
its  first  opening  until  the  present  time  there  has  been  an 
uninterrupted  display  of  God's  grace  in  saving  power. 
Souls  were  saved  at  the  very  outset,  and  souls  are  being 
saved  there  now.  Of  course  its  earthly  founder  is  missed  ; 
his  presence,  his  testimony,  his  personal  intercourse  with 
men  and  women,  his  happy  way  of  conducting  the  services, 

are  no  more ;  and  in  being  deprived  of  these  the  Mission 
14 


2io  Mrs.  McAuley's  Cooperation. 

has  sustained  a  great  loss,  but  the  work  had  a  heavenly 
Founder  as  well  as  an  earthly  one,  and  He  remains.  His 
presence  is  still  vouchsafed.  The  voice  of  the  Son  of  God 
is  still  heard,  bringing  the  dead  to  life,  speaking  liberty  to 
the  bound,  rest  to  the  weary,  hope  and  cheer  to  the  hopeless, 
pardon  to  the  penitent. 

God  uses  means.  He  is  pleased  to  save  souls  through 
human  instrumentalities,  and  when  Jerry  died  the  trustees 
in  charge  of  the  Mission  realized  that  a  superintendent  must 
be  appointed  in  his  stead.  Many  friends  of  the  cause  asked 
"  Who  can  take  his  place  ?"  To  say  that  none  could  do  so 
would  be  to  limit  the  power  of  God  to  anoint  souls  for  his 
work.  The  trustees  felt  that  God  had  the  agent  ready,  and 
so  sought  wisdom  and  direction  from  above.  The  result  of 
their  prayers  and  thought  is  well  known.  From  the  very 
beginning  of  his  mission-work  Jerry  had  found  a  consecrated, 
cheerful,  and  able  helper  in  the  person  of  his  wife.  To  her 
the  sacred  trust,  the  conduct  of  the  Mission,  was  com- 
mitted ;  and  God  is  blessing  her  labors  and  those  of  the 
many  faithful  and  devoted  helpers  who  seek  to  uphold  her 
hands.  With  the  same  deep  love  and  hunger  for  souls  that 
characterized  her  husband,  with  never-failing  tact,  with 
much  of  Jerry's  gift  of  keen  penetration  into  human  nature, 
Mrs.  McAuley  labors  to  the  utmost  of  her  strength  in  her 
unremitting  efforts  to  win  the  lost.  She  gives  her  testimony 
in  the  meetings,  as  she  has  always  done,  often  with  tears  in 
her  own  eyes,  and  often  bringing  tears  to  the  eyes  of  her  lis- 
teners. She  speaks  frankly  of  her  lost  condition  before  Jesus 
saved  her.  It  is  a  sad  story  ;  she  does  not  glory  in  it :  far 
from  that — it  is  with  a  pang  of  grief  and  with  a  sense  of 
humiliation  that  she  tells  it.  But  she  feels  as  Jerry  ever 
felt,  that  poor  souls,  hearing  how  she  was  lifted  from  the 


A  Happy  Sunday  Night,  2 1 1 

depths  and  so  royally  redeemed,  will  take  heart,  and  be  led 
to  seek  the  same  saving  grace  that  she  found.  And  it  is 
just  in  this  way  that  her  testimony  and  the  testimonies  of 
others,  given  in  the  Mission  meetings,  are  blessed.  What 
more  effective  sermon  could  he  whose  eyes  Christ  opened 
have  preached  than  this:  "  One  thing  I  know,  that  whereas 
I  was  blind,  now  I  see"  ?  And  the  testimony  uttered  by  so 
many,  and  so  constantly  owned  of  God  to  the  salvation  of 
souls  in  the  Cremorne  Mission,  is  just  this  :  "  I  was  lost, 
but  now  I  am  saved  :  Jesus  has  saved  me." 

In  this  connection,  as  showing  that  God's  favor  is  still 
vouchsafed  to  the  work,  it  will  be  in  order  to  introduce 
the  following  sketch  of  the  services  at  the  Cremorne  Mis- 
sion. It  was  prepared  by  the  writer  at  the  time  for  Jerry 
McAuley's  Newspaper,  and  is  in  its  various  features  charac- 
teristic of  the  meetings  in  general.  The  sketch  reports  the 
service  held  on  Sunday  evening,  November  9,  1884.  It  is 
copied  in  full. 


A  CREMORNE  SUNDAY  EVENING. 

We  have  never  attended  a  service  in  which  the  various 
parts  blended  more  harmoniously  or  linked  more  completely 
than  that  of  Sunday  night,  November  9,  at  the  Cremorne 
Mission.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  present  in  great  power. 
There  was  no  mere  excitement,  no  froth,  but  a  tidal-wave 
of  blessing  that  carried  us  before  it.  Tears  fell,  for  they 
could  not  be  restrained.  Strong  men  wept,  and  men  and 
women  smiled  though  their  tears.  So  far  as  interest  was 
concerned,  there  was  not  a  dull  minute.  In  view  of  the 
packed  hall,  we  were  led  to  wonder  why  ministers  should 
complain  of  the  difficulty  of  getting  a  Sabbath-evening 


2 1 2  A  Backslider  s  Story. 

audience — as  many  ministers  do  complain.  People  come 
here,  people  of  all  classes,  and  from  various  quarters  of  the 
city.  As  usual  on  Sunday  evenings,  many  friends  were  com- 
pelled to  stand,  yet  one  seat  was  vacant :  the  chair  of  the 
departed  missionary,  Jerry  McAuley,  has  never  been  oc- 
cupied since  his  death.  It  stands  upon  the  platform  in  the 
old  place.  We  have  no  veneration  for  wood,  but  that  empty 
chair,  with  its  drapery  of  black,  speaks  volumes  sometimes. 
Yes,  the  vacant  chair  has  a  voice — hark  to  its  words  of 
warning,  "  Be  ye  also  ready !"  Hark  to  its  word  of  encour- 
agement, "  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee 
a  crown  of  life." 

After  the  service  of  song,  prayer  was  offered  and  the  fifty- 
fifth  chapter  of  Isaiah  was  read  by  the  leader,  Mr.  Corning. 
This  is  the  chapter  that  opens  with  the  call  to  the  thirsty  to 
buy  and  eat  without  money  and  without  price.  With  ex- 
emplary brevity,  the  leader  spoke  of  the  rich  blessings  en- 
joyed here  on  past  occasions,  and  called  for  testimonies  from 
those  who  accepted  Christ  as  their  Saviour. 

"  I  am  glad  that  I  am  able  and  willing  and  anxious  to  speak 
for  Jesus,"  said  the  first.  "  Seven  or  eight  years  ago  He  was 
precious  to  my  soul,  and  I  enjoyed  His  love.  Then  an  evil 
spirit  seemed  to  take  possession  of  me.  I  fell  away,  and  be- 
came addicted  to  the  use  of  strong  drink.  Through  this  I 
was  separated  from  my  wife  and  children.  I  came  to  New 
York,  and  when  the  past  rose  up  before  me,  as  it  often 
would,  I  would  drink  to  drown  the  memories.  I  met  a 

brother,  brother  M ,  over  there,  and  he  brought  me  to 

his  house.  Then  he  brought  me  to  this  Mission.  Each 
testimony  I  heard  here  struck  me  hard.  I  went  forward  to 
those  chairs,  but  I  did  not  get  satisfied  that  night,  and  I  fell 
back  again.  A  few  days  ago  I  met  brother  M again, 


• 

Walking  in  the  Light.  213 

and  he  induced  me  to  come  here,  and  1,  went  again  as  a 
seeker  to  those  chairs.  There  was  a  great  void  in  me  until 
then,  but  I  rejoice  to  be  able  to  tell  you  that  the  void  is 
filled.  The  love  of  Christ  has  filled  it.  I  rejoice  in  him 
to-night." 

One  of  the  hymns  we  had  sung,  "  Walk  in  the  light,"  etc., 
brought  another  to  his  feet.  Last  night,  on  his  way  home 
from  the  Florence  Mission,  he  met  with  drunken  men  lying 
in  dark  corners  of  the  streets — their  only  sleeping-place. 
This  brought  to  his  mind  his  former  condition.  Before 
that  light  of  which  we  had  been  singing  dawned  on  him  he 
had  often  slept  in  just  such  corners.  He  had  long  been  a 
slave  of  strong  drink.  "  Now,-'  he  added,  "  I  look  up  and 
thank  God  that  I  am  w'alking  in  the  light,  '  the  beautiful 
light  of  God.'  "  The  light  had  been  growing  brighter  all 
along.  God  had  taught  him  how  to  sing  and  to  speak,  to 
watch  and  pray.  "  Pray  God,"  he  said,  "  to  show  me  other 
poor  drunkards  that  I  may  go  to  and  speak  about  Jesus." 

Brother  M ,  referred  to  by  the  first  friend  who  testi- 
fied, twice  essayed  to  speak  but  was  prevented  first  by 
another  testimony,  then  by  the  call  for  the  singing  of  a 
hymn.  "The  devil,"  he  said,  "tempted  me  to  keep  quiet, 
when  I  was  twice  prevented  from  speaking,  but  I  would  not 
let  him  beat  me  that  way.  I  did  everything  I  could  when 
that  brother  who  spoke  first  was  serving  God,  years  ago,  to 
lead  him  to  ruin.  We  were  old  friends.  We  were  in  the 
fire-department  together,  and  in  the  army  together,  and,  I 
may  say,  we  went  through  the  mill  together.  So  it  was  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  I  should  seek  to  have  him  saved.  I 
am  so  happy ;  God  has  saved  my  soul  from  hell,  and  I 
wanted  him  saved  too.  After  we  left  the  Mission  last  night 
he  did  not  feel  as  though  God  had  forgiven  him  his  sin. 


214  A  Gallery  Prayer-Meeting. 

To-night  four  of  us  went  up  into  the  gallery  before  the  time 
for  this  service  had  come,  and  there  we  prayed  that  he 
might  confess  Christ  to-night ;  and  he  has  done  it." 

There  was  something  very  touching  about  this  incident. 
The  joy  of  the  one  friend  at  having  the  deep  void  in  his 
heart  filled  was  so  evident,  that  it  was  contagious.  But 

when  we  heard  of  brother  M 's  deep  anxiety  for  his  old 

associate's  conversion,  and  then  of  this  little  gallery  prayer- 
meeting,  and  saw  the  prompt  response  vouchsafed  of  God, 
our  hearts  were  deeply  affected.  We  recalled  the  four  men 
who  brought  their  palsied  friend  to  Jesus,  and  whose  faith 
was  so  honored  of  the  Master.  A  sense  of  holy  awe  fell 
upon  the  meeting.  We  felt  that  that  gracious  Saviour  was 
most  assuredly  present  through  his  Holy  Spirit. 

"  No  man  can  truly  say 

That  Jesus  is  the  Lord, 
Unless  thou  take  the  veil  away 
And  breathe  the  living  Word." 

The  veil  had  been  removed,  and  so  we  knew  that  the  Holy 
Spiiit  was  at  work  among  us.  We  realized  the  words: 

" heaven  comes  down  our  souls  to  greet, 

And  glory  crowns  the  mercy-seat." 

The  next  speaker  had  known  the  Lord  for  several  years. 
He  meets  with  adversaries  at  his  daily  toil.  They  ask  him 
why  he  believes  in  God  when  he  cannot  see  any  God.  He 
tells  them  that  when  at  sea  he  steered  by  the  compass, 
though  he  could  not  see  the  land  to  which  it  pointed,  and 
thus  steering  he  reached  the  port  in  safety.  So  since  he  had 
steered  by  God's  Word  he  had  known  peace  and  joy  although 
he  had  not  seen  God  face  to  face. 

"I  know  whom  I  have  put  my  trust  in,"  said  another; 


A  Light  in  Thirty-second  Street.  2 1 5 

"  it  is  Jesus  Christ.  Many  a  time  I  have  said  to  Jerry 
McAuley,  'Mr.  McAuley,  I  mean,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to 
keep  in  this  way.'  He  would  say,  '  My  boy,  hold  on  to 
Christ.'  Now  he  has  fought  and  won,  but  he  is  not  out  of 
sight  altogether ;  I  shall  meet  him  again." 

"  I  can  praise  God  to-night.  How  I  do  praise  him  for 
answering  my  prayer  for  mercy  ten  months  ago!"  another 
said. 

We  sang  fr®m  the  hymn — 

"  Let  the  lower  lights  be  burning, 
Send  a  gleam  across  the  wave,"  etc., 

when  a  convert  said,  "  That  illustrates  my  case.  If  there 
had  not  been  a  light  in  Thirty-second  Street  I  should  pro- 
bably have  been  in  perdition  now.  Until  I  came  here, 
eighteen  months  ago,  my  wife  and  family  were  heart-broken. 
I  was  a  drunkard,  and  when  I  came  home,  my  wife  did  not 
know  whether  to  expect  a  kind  word  or  a  blow.  This  went 
on  for  eighteen  years.  It  seemed  as  if  there  was  .something 
down  in  perdition  drawing- me  there.  Rum  had  so  much 
the  best  of  me  that  I  had  lost  my  will.  How  many  fights 
with  the  devil  I  had  !  Eighteen  months  ago  I  came  here 
and  was  saved ;  now  I  am  able  to  say  '  no '  when  tempted"  to 
do  wrong." 

"  I  thought  I  was  as  good  as  anybody  until,  as  I  came  to 
this  meeting,  I  discovered  I  was  as  bad  as  anybody,"  was 
the  testimony  of  one  who  added,  "  I  want  to  keep  my  light 
low  that  others  may  see  it.  My  prayer  is  that  God  may 
keep  me  humble  and  honest." 

The  next  speaker  came  to  pay  a  farewell  visit  to  the  Mis- 
sion. About  two  years  and  a  half  ago,  as  he  and  an  associ- 
ate walked  along  Sixth  Avenue,  he  said  to  his  friend,  "John, 


216  From  the  Cremorne  to  the  Congo. 

come  along  and  let  us  see  what  kind  of  a  place  tney  have 
got  here,"  meaning  the  Mission.  He  came,  and  to  tell  the 
story  in  his  own  words,  "  I  came  five  times  and  I  was  con- 
victed of  sin.  I  saw  I  was  in  the  wrong  way,  yet  I  was  not 
willing  to  surrender  to  Jesus.  Two  years  and  seven  months 
ago  I  knelt  down  at  those  chairs,  and  sought  and  found 
mercy.  Further  on,  the  Lord  called  me  out  to  work  for 
him,  and  now  I  am  bound  for  the  Congo.  I  leave  next 
Saturday  with  a  band  of  missionaries.  Pray  God  to  use  us 
for  the  salvation  of  precious  souls."  It  was  on  an  Easter 
Sunday  that  the  speaker  first  found  peace  with  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

At  this  point  a  verse  ot  Hymn  No.  72,  in  Gospel  Praise 
Book,  was  called  for,  and  sung  with  much  fervor: 

"  Behold  the  changing  autumn  leaves, 

Behold  the  fields  of  ripening  grain, 
Go  gather  in  the  golden  sheaves, 
From  valley,  hill,  and  distant  plain. 

"  Then  reapers  haste,  the  skies  are  clear, 

The  fields  resound  the  glad  refrain, 
The  harvesters  from  far  and  near, 
Are  gathering  in  the  golden  grain." 

"I  wish  that  brother  God  speed,"  said  Mrs.  McAuley, 
"  but  he  won't  find  a  blacker  heart  in  all  Africa  than  mine 
was  in  this  city  of  New  York  before  Jesus  saved  me  over 
fifteen  years  ago,  and  he  has  kept  me  ever  since.  Pray 
God  to  bless  this  brother  in  Africa  and  to  bless  me  here." 

A  brother  said  he  had  been  impressed  with  a  hymn  sung 
at  the  church  service  which  he  attended  in  the  morning, 
"  If  I've  Jesus,  only  Jesus."  It  was  such  a  comfort  to  him 
to  know  that  he  could  take  Jesus  to  his  work  with  him  in 


Jerry  and  His  Text.  2 1 7 

the  morning.  For  nearly  fourteen  years  he  had  found  a 
friend  in  Jesus.  The  speaker  commended  the  decision  of 
the  young  brother  who  was  going  to  Africa.  Missionaries 
did  good.  He  remembered  a  missionary  in  Hong  Kong 
whose  words  had  produced  a  deep  impression  on  him.  The 
brother  had  a  very  happy  experience  when  he  was  saved. 
Previous  to  his  finding  peace  it  seemed  as  though  hell  were 
just  ready  to  swallow  him  up.  It  was  eight  o'clock  one 
morning  when  he  realized  he  was  saved.  For  twelve  days 
after  that  -he  hardly  knew  whether  he  was  in  the  body  or 
out,  because  of  Christ's  wonderful  peace  and  joy  in  his  soul. 
That  same  peace  and  joy  has  been  experienced  by  another 
who  told  something  of  what  grace  had  done  for  him.  "  There 
are  no  limits  to  the  power  of  Christ  to  save,"  he  said ;  "  a 
little  over  thirty  years  ago  I  was  with  a  bad  crowd  in  Cali- 
fornia. I  learned  the  tricks  that  are  vain.  I  knew  I  was 
doing  wrong,  and  I  was  on  the  wrong  path  until  nearly  five 
years  ago.  Then  I  resolved  to  change  my  course  of  life  and 
I  did  it  with  an  earnestness  that  God  honored.  Jerry  gave 
me  the  text,  '  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added  unto  you:' 
I  had  schemed  and  planned  and  troubled  a  good  deal  to  get 
these  very  things  which  God  promised  to  give  if  I  would 
obey  him.  I  resolved  from  that  moment  out  to  test  God's 

promise.     I  took  a  good  letter  to  Mr.  H (then  the  head 

of  a  large  dry-goods  establishment),  but  he  dismissed  me 
rudely,  and  when  I  left  him  the  old  nature  began  boiling  up. 
Then  I  said  to  myself,  '  This  is  not  what  I  promised  God.' 
Presently  as  I  was  going  down  the  Bowery  I  met  an  old  as- 
sociate, who  unfolded  a  little  scheme.  He  wanted  me  to 
take  part  in  it,  and  my  share  in  the  transaction  would  have 
yielded  me  $40  in  twenty  minutes.  But  I  told  him  I  had 


A  Well-scrubbed  Floor. 

made  a  promise  to  God  and  I  would  stick  to  it  if  I  starved, 
so  I  could  not  have  anything  more  to  do  with  such  schemes. 
Then  I  met  a  broker  who  had  given  me  many  points,  and  he 
never  gave  me  any  information  that  I  failed  on  when  I  used 
it.  But  I  told  him  that  I  did  not  want  to  hear  any  of  his 
points.  I  went  on  to  the  Water  Street  Mission,  and  sister 
McAuley  gave  me  a  day's  work.  I  scrubbed  the  floor  and 
cleaned  the  windows  of  the  Mission.  When  I  got  through 
she  said  they  were  done  better  than  ever  she  had  had  them 
done.  Well,  I  had  prayed  God  to  instruct  me  as  I  did  the 
work.  Now  I  am  doing  well ;  God  sent  me  a  friend  who  put 
me  into  business,  lending  me  money.  I  am  prospering,  and 
hope  to  be  out  of  debt  by  next  spring.  From  my  experi- 
ence I  can  say, '  Put  your  trust  in  God :  he'll  honor  it.'  One 
Sunday  evening  a  woman  called  for  a  dress  my  wife  was 
making  for  her.  The  dress  was  not  quite  finished,  for  the 
buttons  had  to  be  sewn  on.  The  customer  wanted  my  wife 
to  complete  the  work  there  and  then;  but  she  would  not  do 
it  because  it  was  Sunday.  Then  the  woman  was  angry  and 
called  my  wife  a  thief,  saying  she  believed  the  dress  had 
been  pawned.  She  then  left,  but  next  morning  she  came  in 
again.  She  lived  in  Brooklyn,  but  had  stayed  in  New  York 
at  a  friend's  house  all  night.  She  expressed  her  sorrow  for 
her  conduct  on  the  previous  day,  got  her  dress,  and  paid  six 
dollars  for  it.  We  found  then,  as  we  have  ever  since,  that 
God's  providences  will  come  in  when  they  are  needed.  I 
have  grown  in  faith  since  I  first  started  in  this  way." 

Until  twenty-two  years  old,  a  gentleman  said,  he  had  been 
without  God,  being  utterly  ignorant  of  the  Bible,  never  hav- 
ing read  it  an  hour  in  his  life.  Then  he  was  persuaded  to 
seek  the  Lord.  God  opened  his  eyes  and  while  he  saw  he 
was  a  sinner  he  saw  also  that  he  was  the  very  sinner  Christ 


So  Near  yet  so  Different.  2 1 9 

came  Into  the  world  to  save.  For  threescore  years  and 
three  he  had  been  a  Christian  and  Jesus  had  proved  more 
and  more  precious  to  him.  It  was  grand  to  hear  this  veteran 
talk  of  the  peace  with  God,  the  peace  of  soul,  the  absence  of 
anxiety,  and  forgiveness,  and  the  blessed  consciousness  of 
sin  forgiven,  and  of  a  title  to  life  eternal  which  he  enjoyed. 
He  commended  this  religion  of  Christ,  and  concluded  with 
the  statement  that  there  had  been  too  much  testimony  given 
that  night  to  be  neglected. 

A  solemn  thought  was  presented  by  another:  it  was  the 
close  proximity  of  the  living  and  the  dead.  In  these  seats 
sat  the  saved  and  the  unsaved.  This  Mission  place  was 
God's  house;  the  place  next  door  below  might  well  be 
characterized  as  hell.  So  there  was  many  a  one  here  to-night 
in  whose  heart  there  was  heaven,  while  there  was  a  very  hell 
in  the  heart  that  beat  next  to  him,  but  God's  Word  was, 
"  He  that  hath  the  Son  hath  life,"  and  those  now  lost  had 
but  a  step  to  take  to  make  Christ  theirs  and  so  take  heaven 
for  hell.  Some  might  fear  to  accept  Christ  and  start  in  the 
Christian  way  because  they  wondered  how  they  could  be 
Christians  amid  the  temptations  of  life.  But  to  those  who 
believe  in  Christ  God  gives  the  power  to  become  sons.  "  I 
cannot  tell  you  how  he  does  it,"  said  the  speaker;  "he 
takes  away  the  stony  heart  and  gives  us  a  new  heart.  He 
has  given  me  fifteen  years  of  this  life,  in  which  I  have  had 
more  peace  and  joy  than  I  can  ever  tell." 

A  sister  said  it  was  two  years  and  over  since  she  realized 
that  God  had  forgiven  her  sins.  She  had  had  much  forgiven. 
Addicted  to  the  use  of  a  strong  and  poisonous  drug,  she  had 
gone  far  towards  destroying  herself.  Indeed,  the  physicians 
told  her  that  she  had  but  six  months  to  live.  It  was  when 
in  this  sad  state  that  she  was  laid  under  conviction  of  sin  and 


220  From  the  Kitchen  to  Africa. 

turned  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  saved  her,  and  de- 
stroyed the  power  of  her  awful  appetite.  He  forgave  her  sins 
and  healed  her  body.  She  then  resolved  to  consecrate  her- 
self to  the  Lord,  and  she  thought  he  would  surely  lead  her 
into  some  Missionary  service.  But  no:  the  way  opened  into 
a  kitchen,  with  cooking  and  washing  and  ironing  to  be  done. 
This  was  a  strange,  mysterious  Providence.  Friends  told 
her  she  was  wasting  her  time,  but  she  said  she  believed  the 
Lord  had  put  her  there.  At  this  work  she  proposed  to  stay 
till  the  Lord  opened  a  way  out.  This  the  Lord  had  now 
done ;  she,  too,  was  about  to  start  for  Africa,  and  she  had 
reason  to  know  that  the  domestic  acts  which  she  had  been 
learning  would  make  her  useful  in  her  new  field  of  labor. 

A  young  man  told  us  that  two  years  ago  he  came  here  to 
transact  some  business  with  Jerry  McAuley.  As  he  sat  here 
and  heard  what  was  said  he  became  convicted  of  sin  and  then 
sought  forgiveness  of  God  through  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

All  along  the  Christian's  religion  had  been  presented  in 
glowing  colors.  The  friends  who  spoke  bore  abundant  evi- 
dence that  to  have  the  grace  of  Christ  Jesus  in  the  heart  was 
to  have  a  treasure  indeed.  In  view  of  this  there  was  great 
force  in  the  words  of  a  young  brother,  who,  after  telling  us 
that  God  had  saved  him  too,  added,  "  and  all  this  we  got 
without  money  and  without  price."  Great  indeed  is  the 
wealth  of  the  Christian  inheritance — priceless  in  value  yet 
offered  without  price. 

After  the  testimonies,  an  earnest  appeal  was  made  to  the 
unsaved  to  make  this  the  night  of  their  surrender  to  Christ. 
"Do  not  wait  for  feeling:  it  is  the  devil's  trick  to  destroy 
souls,  to  make  you  wait  for  feeling,"  the  speaker  said.  He 
then  recited  some  thrilling  incidents  that  were  told  in  a  way 
not  to  be  forgotten.  By  each  incident  some  point  was 


Tidings — Glad  Tidings.  221 

emphasized,  and  the  address  was  most  solemn,  tender,  and 
earnest.  When  the  opportunity  was  afforded,  a  number  of 
persons  raised  the  hand  to  signify  that  they  wished  to 
start  on  the  Christian  life  and  that  they  desired  prayer. 
Thus  the  first  service  was  brought  to  a  close.  We  rejoice 
to  know  that  some  left  the  place  rejoicing  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  their  newly-found  Lord  and  Saviour.  The  angels 
had  work  to  do  in  "  bearing  the  tidings  home,"  and  there 
was  joy  in  heaven  as  well  as  on  earth,  for  heaven  makes 
merry  over  the  salvation  of  the  lost. 


Some  years  have  passed  since  this  record  was  made,  but 
the  meetings  continue  with  unabated  interest:  the  prayer  of 
the  penitent  is  still  heard,  wanderers  are  reclaimed,  back- 
sliders are  restored,  and  God's  free  grace  revealed  in  Christ 
is  glorified.  Here,  too,  those  who  are  moralists,  and  know 
not  Christ's  presence  in  the  heart,  are  convicted  of  their  need 
of  his  salvation.  The  respectable  and  the  ragged,  the  self- 
righteous  and  the  sinner,  bow  side  by  side  at  the  throne  of 
grace,  and  are  brought  to  know  the  Lord  Jesus  as  a  personal 
Saviour. 


222  Jerry  McAuleys  Newspaper. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

JERRY  AS  A  JOURNALIST  AND  CORRESPONDENT. 

"  God's  grace  will  to  the  end 

Stronger  and  brighter  shine  ; 
Nor  present  things,  nor  things  to  come, 
Shall  quench  the  love  divine." 

IN  June,  1883,  Jerry  began  the  publication  of  a  bi-weekly 
journal,  which  he  entitled  Jerry  McAuleys  Newspaper.  Pub- 
lished every  other  Thursday,  it  was  Jerry's  idea  that  it 
should  contain  reports  of  the  meetings  at  the  Cremorne 
Mission,  giving  the  pith  of  the  testimonies  there  uttered, 
and  also  records  of  other  city  mission-work.  The  paper  is 
still  issued,  Mrs.  McAuley  feeling  that  she  could  not  allow 
her  husband's  cherished  project  to  fail.  It  is  dependent  for 
its  financial  support  upon  the  annual  subscriptions  of  friends 
and  the  advertising  patronage  of  a  number  of  well-known 
business  men  who  are  deeply  interested  in  its  welfare. 
Many  copies  of  each  issue  are  sent  to  inmates  of  prisons, 
penitentiaries,  and  other  institutions.  Some  of  those  who 
have  read  in  their  prison-cells  the  testimonies  of  former  con- 
victs at  the  Mission,  have  been  led  upon  their  own  release 
to  come  there  for  themselves,  and  to  seek  and  find  the 
Saviour  of  the  lost.  Some  indeed,  through  God's  blessing 
upon  the  printed  pages,  have  while  yet  incarcerated  been 
moved  to  confess  their  sins  to  God,  and  implore  divine  par- 


A  Silent  Messenger.  223 

don.  Thus  while  prisoners  of  the  law  of  man  they  have 
become  free  men  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  paper  has  been  dis- 
tributed among  the  sick  in  hospitals,  and  in  some  instances 
the  dying  have  learned  from  its  columns  the  way  of  life,  and 
have  entered  thereupon.  Many  earnest  Christian  workers 
both  near  and  far  have  testified  to  the  encouragement  to 
faith  derived  from  the  reading  of  this  journal.  In  moments 
of  depression,  when  the  difficulties  in  connection  with  their 
service  for  Christ  seemed  many  and  almost  insurmountable, 
or  when  they  wearily  watched  for  fruit  that  seemed  long 
coming,  they  have  read  the  records  of  God's  work  at  the 
Cremorne  or  some  kindred  mission,  and  have  found  their 
love  for  the  Master's  service  warmed  and  their  zeal  inspired 
afresh. 

It  was  Jerry's  hope  that  his  "  Newspaper"  might  be  ac- 
corded such  a  hearty  support  that  the  profits  might  ere  long 
permit  of  the  establishment  of  a  Home  for  erring  but  peni- 
tent sisters.  Here  he  proposed  such  should  find  a  refuge 
from  their  lives  of  evil,  while  seeking  avenues  of  honorable 
employment.  Jerry  died  without  realizing  this  wish,  but  be- 
queathed his  desire  and  hope  to  Mrs.  McAuley,  who  cher- 
ishes the  same  design. 

The  journal  is  still  conducted  in  accordance  with  Jerry's 
views.  It  presents  the  saving  truths  of  the  Gospel  in  an 
attractive  form,  and  it  is  the  conviction  of  those  who  most 
regularly  peruse  its  contents,  that  the  paper  succeeds  in  the 
high  aim  of  its  editors,  which  is  to  "  preach  Christ  Jesus, 
and  Him  crucified,  on  every  page." 

Without  this  reference  to  a  work  which  was  so  dear  to 
Jerry's  heart  this  memorial  volume  would  be  incomplete. 
The  "  Newspaper"  still  bears  Jerry's  name,  and  it  is  a  con- 
stant memorial  of  God's  grace  as  manifested  in  him.  It  also 


224  Jerry  s  Correspondence. 

carries  hither  and  thither  the  glad  story  of  Christ's  saving 
grace  and  power  as  proclaimed  by  men  and  women  who,  like 
Jerry,  have  been  brought  out  of  the  horrible  pit  and  the  miry 
clay,  but  whose  feet  have  been  placed  upon  the  rock  eternal, 
in  whose  mouth,  as  in  his,  has  been  placed  the  new  song, 
even  praise  unto  our  God.  They  sing  that  song  on  earth, 
he  sings  it  before  the  throne.  Yet  it  is  the  same  song — the 
song  of  Moses  and  the  Lamb,  the  song  of  redeeming  love. 


Jerry's  early  life  deprived  him  of  the  advantages  of  edu- 
cation ;  and  from  this  fact,  and  possibly  in  part  from  his  very 
active  disposition,  he  had  no  love  for  correspondence.  Few 
specimens  of  his  handwriting  in  any  shape  are  in  existence  ; 
but  while  at  Sing  Sing  he  dictated  some  letters,  a  few  of 
which  are  in  the  possession  of  a  lady  in  this  city.  Jerry 
makes  grateful  mention  of  this  lady  and  the  Christian  service 
she  rendered  him,  as  will  be  seen  in  Chapter  I.,  page  18, 
where  he  speaks  of  her  as  Miss  D ;  and  through  her  kind- 
ness we  have  been  permitted  to  read  these  letters  and  to 
publish  two  of  them.  These  letters  show  that  before  his 
release  Jerry's  spiritual  life  was  very  real.  It  is  evident  that 
he  fed  much  upon  God's  Word.  No  doubt  he  there  studied 
it  very  thoroughly,  and  laid  large  portions  of  its  contents  up 
in  store.  From  that  store  he  drew  copiously  in  the  after- 
days,  for  in  his  addresses  and  his  comments  upon  Scripture 
he  showed  great  familiarity  with  the  Book.  His  exposi- 
tions of  Scripture,  always  quaint  and  original,  bore  witness 
that  he  had  reached  the  heart  of  the  matter. 

Two  of  the  letters  are  appended.  The  first  was  written 
to  a  good  sister  in  Christ — an  old  lady  in  one  of  our  public 
almshouses;  the  second  was  addressed  to  the  friend  already 
mentioned. 


Jerry  s  Comfort  in  Prayer.  225 

SING  SING,  Feb.  3,  1863. 

DEAR  SISTER:  I  received  your  kind  letter,  and  read  it 
with  pleasure.  I  do  assure  you  I  am  unworthy  of  your 
Christian  love.  I  thank  you,  dear  friend,  for  your  kind  sym- 
pathy for  me  in  my  present  misfortune.  You  spoke  of  some 
little  refreshments  that  I  sent  you.  I  don't  remember  send- 
ing you  anything.  I  gave  something  to  the  friend  that 
wrote  your  letter,  and  told  her  to  give  it  to  whom  she 
pleased.  I  gave  it  cheerfully,  because  my  Heavenly  Father 
put  it  in  my  heart  to  do  so  ;  therefore  you  must  thank  the 
kind  Friend  who  gave  you  those  little  comforts.  I  wish  I 
had  something  worth  sending ;  I  would  do  so  very  cheer- 
fully, but  the  time  may  come  when  I  can  do  so. 

You  ask  me  to  continue  in  prayer.  My  dear  sister,  I 
could  not  sleep  nor  eat  without  prayer.  Prayer  is  the  only 
source  of  comfort  that  the  true  Christian  enjoys.  Those  are 
good  hymns  that  you  speak  of.  I  have  got  two  of  them  at 
heart.  One  of  them  is  "  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul."  The 
other  is  "  Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire."  I  am  very 
thankful  to  you  for  your  prayers,  and  hope  that  they  will  be 
answered.  You  will  continue  to  pray  for  me.  I  do  indeed 
feel  for  you  in  your  misfortunes,  but  feeling  will  not  help 
you.  I  do  rejoice  now  that  you  love  the  Lord  Jesus  so 
much.  The  friend  who  wrote  to  you  told  me  about  you, 
and  spoke  very  highly  of  you.  She  has  promised  to  take 
me  to  see  you  when  I  get  out.  But  my  hopes  are  discour- 
aging now,  because  my  friends  have  not  proceeded  as  I 
wished  they  should ;  but  there  is  no  use  talking  now.  It 
troubled  me  when  I  heard  of  it ;  but,  dear  sister,  if  we  do  not 
meet  on  earth,  I  hope  we  shall  in  heaven.  The  day  I  re- 
ceived your  letter,  that  night  I  knelt  down  and  prayed  that 

God  would  spare  your  life   until  I  saw   you.     I  had    that 
15 


226  Learning  the  Bible. 

sweet  assurance  that  my  heavenly  Father  heard  my  prayer. 
I  love  to  read  my  Bible.  I  have  got  by  heart  the  following 
chapters:  Timothy  6th  ;  Hebrews  I  ith  and  I2th  ;  James  1st ; 
Luke  24th;  Psalms  34,  51,  88,  90,  91,  103,  119,  and  143.  I 
have  got  a  great  many  texts,  but  I  will  not  mention  them. 
I  have  said  nothing  on  spiritual  things.  I  know  that  I 
love  my  dear  Lord  Jesus.  I  feel  happy  lately. 

Now  I  must  bid  you  a  good-by.    Give  my  Christian  re- 
gards to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus. 

Yours  in  Christ,  JERRY  McAULEY. 


SING  SING,  May  u,  1863. 
MISS  D . 

DEAR  FRIEND:  I  received  your  kind  letter,  which  was 
the  source  of  great  comfort  to  me.  I  found  in  it  sweet 
Christian  counsel;  all  your  letters  have  been  the  means  of 
cheering  me  in  my  sad  moments.  I  wish  you  would  write 
to  me  often,  if  you  feel  disposed  to  do  so. 

I  read  a  chapter  in  the  Bible  this  morning:  it  was  John 
i6th:  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  ye  shall  weep  and  la- 
ment, but  the  world  shall  rejoice  ;  and  ye  shall  be  sorrowful, 
but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy."  This  verse 
struck  me  forcibly,  and  made  a  deep  impression  on  me.  I 
think  a  great  deal  upon  our  last  interview,  especially  about 
Abraham.  You  must  not  think  for  a  moment  that  I  am 
ungrateful  for  the  many  favors  you  so  generously  bestowed 
upon  me.  I  feel  indeed  that  I  can  never  repay  this  debt  of 
gratitude.  Your  sweet  Christian  advice  has  given  me  some 
encouragement,  but  I  leave  all  things  in  the  hands  of  my 
heavenly  Father.  He  will  do  all  things  right. 

Dear  sister,  it  is  my  desire  that  you  would  pray  much  for 


Conclusion.  227 

me      I  never  wanted  them  more.     Give  my  kind  Christian 

regards  to  Mrs.  L ;  also  remember  me  to  Miss  H . 

Tell  her  that  I  am  very  glad  that  she  is  getting  well. 

Yours  truly,  JERRY  McAuLEY. 


Our  task  is  accomplished.  To  God  the  source  of  all  real 
good,  who  alone  can  make  this  volume  a  blessing  to  its 
readers,  it  is  committed,  with  the  ardent  prayer  that  he  will 
use  it  for  his  glory.  Amen. 


NOTE. — The  pictures  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McAuley  contained  in  this  book 
are  from  plates  executed  by  the  "  Photo-Electrotype  Engraving  Company," 
20  Cliff  Street,  from  the  excellent  negatives  taken  by  the  well-known  photo- 
giapher  Mr.  Charles  D.  Fredericks,  770  Broadway,  New  York. 


THE  END. 


UCSB  LIBRARY 


II  Mill  Mill  Hill  Illll  Mill  III 

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